The word ‘cold’ suggests that cold causes us to suffer more often during the autumn and winter months, but according to thermophysiologist Van Marken Lichtenbelt, this is a fable: „There is no such thing as suffering from cold. Of course it is not good for your health if you are exposed to extremely low temperatures for a longer period of time, but that does not happen if you turn the heating down a few degrees or if you wear a sweater that is too thin.” People mainly sniff during the winter months, because they are indoors more and are more likely to infect each other with a virus.
How does your body react to cold?
When your body is first exposed to cold, it starts to fight back. Your blood vessels constrict, your heart rate goes up and you get chills. If you expose yourself to this cold for a few days, habituation will occur. The chills disappear and the heart and blood vessels constrict less. “In principle, people can live fine in an average room temperature of 17 degrees. It will just take some getting used to at first. Due to modern heating we have become more and more accustomed to a constant temperature of about 20 to 21 degrees, but it is good to expose your body to different temperatures. By varying the temperature you make blood vessels more flexible. We therefore think that exposure to cold is good for the heart and blood vessels in the long term.”
How does cold affect your health?
So cold seems to be good for the heart and blood vessels, but does it have any other positive health effects? “You see that the metabolic health (the metabolism) and the sugar balance improve. Prolonged cold activates the body’s own brown fat. This is not the fat that makes you gain weight, but the type that converts fats and sugars into heat. Brown fat therefore acts as a kind of heater. The extra heat production is important for the local blood vessels and nerves and possibly also for other organs. The chills also cause your muscles to absorb more sugar from the blood. This may be beneficial for patients with type 2 diabetes.”
Why can some people handle the cold better than others?
A pleasant indoor temperature is different for everyone. Folds are often colder than men, which is why you see a battle for the thermostat knob in many households. But why are women more likely to be cold? “This is largely due to the lean body mass. Women generally have more fat and less lean body mass, so they produce less heat. The elderly also thrive better in higher temperatures, because they are less able to sense the cold. This can be dangerous at very low temperatures. In addition, the ability to produce heat is reduced. This all has to do with ailments that come with old age. Unfortunately, if you are less vital, thermoregulation becomes a sensitive point.”
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