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Science

Being Colder May Be Good For Your Health 234

Posted by Soulskill from the take-a-chill-pill dept.
An anonymous reader writes: If you live in a developed nation, you're probably pretty warm throughout most of the day. Enclosed spaces, thick clothing, and heating devices do a good job to keep the cold away. But this hasn't been the case for most of human history. Even in warmer climates, humans often had to deal with chilly nights and tough winters. That's where our metabolic system evolved, and now people are doing research to figure out if that's a better natural state for maintaining our health.

One recent study found that "when people cool their bedrooms from 75 degrees to 66 degrees, they gain brown fat, the metabolically active fat that burns calories to generate heat." Another showed that "even after controlling for diet, lifestyle, and other factors, people who live in warmer parts of Spain are more likely to be obese than people who live in the cooler parts." The article talks about people letting their house temperatures drop into the 50s and wearing ice vests during the day, all in the name of further research.
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Being Colder May Be Good For Your Health More

Being Colder May Be Good For Your Health

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  • tropical thailand (Score:5, Interesting)

    by geekymachoman ( 1261484 ) on Tuesday December 30, 2014 @12:16AM (#48694117)

    I live in Thailand. Don't really see obese people here. It's hot. Very hot.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Nemyst ( 1383049 )
      How many people in Thailand live the Western lifestyle of working in a cramped office all day and then coming home to watch TV on the sofa?

    • Compare typical Thai food to American food.

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Compare typical Thai food to American food.

        You can get fat on Thai food. It is more likely they live a healthier lifestyle and don't eat snacks at the desk between meals. And for the one citing the gluten factor: The gluten factor is also blamed on weight loss, not only on gain and all documents around the gluten factor wont stand a review or are pretty much esoteric to begin. Looks like some people have found a new word and like to preach.

      • Re:tropical thailand (Score:4, Insightful)

        by rwa2 ( 4391 ) * on Tuesday December 30, 2014 @02:27AM (#48694415) Homepage Journal

        Compare typical Thai food to American food.

        That, and Asians also have had a few thousand more years of agricultural society compared to hunter/gatherer Westerners. Food grows everywhere and is available year-round, so southeast asian bodies haven't exactly had to evolve the "pack it away for the winter!" approach to carbs.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by suss ( 158993 )

      A quick google for "thailand obesity" brings up another story...

      Here's one. [burning-bison.com]

  • International translation (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 30, 2014 @12:19AM (#48694119)

    For non-Americans (and other Fahrenheit speakers, if any): approximately between 19 and 24 degrees Celsius.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by deniable ( 76198 )
      I'll be happy if it drops below 25 by midnight. Dropping to 19 means sealing the house and cranking the AC to 11. Then again, we have a cool change, 39 today and 29 tomorrow. A low of 18 should let things cool down overnight.

  • So there's this young penguin. One day, (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 30, 2014 @12:24AM (#48694129)

    he asks his mom "Am I a penguin, mom?"
    "Of course you are, dear."
    A few days later, "Is dad a penguin too?"
    Yes, son, dad's a penguin. I'm a penguin. And so are you."
    A few more days,"Mom, are grandma and grandpa penguins?"
    "Of course they are. We're all penguins, and their ancestors are penguins as far back as you can find. Why do you ask?"
    "Because I'm fucking freezing!"

  • I sleep better in the cold (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Snotnose ( 212196 ) on Tuesday December 30, 2014 @12:27AM (#48694141)
    In the living room I've got the windows closed, no heater yet, and it's 65. In the bedroom the window is open and it's in the 40s. I love snuggling under my pile of blankets, and sleep much better that way than I do in the summer when it's 80 in the bedroom.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by xaxa ( 988988 )

      In the living room I've got the windows closed, no heater yet, and it's 65. In the bedroom the window is open and it's in the 40s. I love snuggling under my pile of blankets, and sleep much better that way than I do in the summer when it's 80 in the bedroom.

      British Government health advice is that living rooms should be heated to temperatures of 21C (70F) and the rest of the house to 18C (64F).

      The World Health Organisation says "vulnerable people" are at risk of respiritory infection below 16C (61F).

      My thermostat is set to 18C.

  • I like cold, I sleep without a blanket (just a sheet), I walk outdoors without a jacket most of the year, but the only problem I never solved is hands and feet. Exposed to cold, their temperature tend to adjust to external temperature, which hurts with temperature below 10 degree Celsius.

    • Re:Hands and feet (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Intrepid imaginaut ( 1970940 ) on Tuesday December 30, 2014 @12:34AM (#48694171)

      Likewise, I despise warm climates. Give me the ice and cold and snow! Mind you I prefer to be warm in those climates, but having the option is important. In Nordic countries many parents leave their babies outside in sub zero temperatures [bbc.com].

      • Outside with warm blankets and an insulated baby carriage. I personally guess this is something that made a lot more sense 20 years ago, when it was more likely people would be smoking in doors. My sister has baby and the baby alarm even have a temperature report, when the general air is -3C outside the temperature in the baby carriage is still 5-10C and that is not even counting the blankets and warm clothes the baby is wearing when sleeping there.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      I like cold, I sleep without a blanket (just a sheet), I walk outdoors without a jacket most of the year, but the only problem I never solved is hands and feet. Exposed to cold, their temperature tend to adjust to external temperature, which hurts with temperature below 10 degree Celsius.

      Great to know there are other people like me who are cold-blooded. If the temperatures are above 10C, a shirt and pants is sufficient for me to go outside. Below 10C in the mornings I have a jacket on, but during the day I

      • I also have a fan on all the time. I'm simply uncomfortable in temperatures above 21C.

        I'm comfortable in pants and a t-shirt down to 0C if it's not too windy, or -15C if it's calm and sunny and I'm moving around. Below those conditions I'll wear a jacket and perhaps gloves. Only once it gets to -25C do I get out the winter gear and start layering. I don't need it until then.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by rwa2 ( 4391 ) *

      I like cold, I sleep without a blanket (just a sheet), I walk outdoors without a jacket most of the year, but the only problem I never solved is hands and feet. Exposed to cold, their temperature tend to adjust to external temperature, which hurts with temperature below 10 degree Celsius.

      That's natural... your hands and feet have a high surface area to volume ratio, so they naturally serve as radiators to help help regulate your core temperature.

      When you're hot, the capillaries in your hands and feet will bring blood to the surface, helping you cool off. When you're cold, circulation decreases so less blood flows to your hands and feet to help maintain more heat in your core.

      So for people who overheat and start sweating under their blankets, all they really need to do is let their hands

  • The summary claims "Good For Your Health" but only considers one aspect. Shame on them...

    http://www.webmd.com/hypertens... [webmd.com]

  • It's amazing to me! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by EzInKy ( 115248 ) on Tuesday December 30, 2014 @12:39AM (#48694183)

    I keep my house at 62F during the winter, and it never ceases to amaze me when my guests demand the heat be turned up. It's as if they don't understand that there are real costs involved when warming a space up. Besides, those who are cold can add any number of layers of clothing, those who are too warm can only strip so far.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by xaxa ( 988988 )

      62F = 16.5C. Below 16C the World Health Organisation says vulnerable people are at risk of respiritory infection, they recommend at least 21C for such people.

    • It is normally courteous to have your home around 65-68F when you have guests over.

      Normally when guests come over you take their coat, and they really don't want to travel back to their home to get extra clothing, because you are being cheap on the heating for a few hours out of the day.

      Being that most hosts will keep their home around a warmer temperature+extra heat from more people. They dress for that temperature. And it is rather impolite to bury themselves in your blankets that may be around.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by PPH ( 736903 )

      those who are too warm can only strip so far.

      Offer that as an option to your guests. They'll be comfy. And you'll be naked.

      Of course, that would have been my plan all along.

  • 55-65 deg F (Score:2, Informative)

    by ChunderDownunder ( 709234 )

    That's 12.8 - 18.3 deg Celsius for the rest of us.

    (My indoor thermometer says 22 deg C at the moment)

  • Tim Ferriss talks about this in The 4-Hour Body [wikipedia.org]. It's one reason competitive swimmers are in such good shape: it's not just the exercise itself, it's being in water that's much colder than body temperature. One of Ferriss's weight-loss tips involves using ice-packs.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by itzly ( 3699663 )
      Apparently, being in the cold promotes the growth of brown fat cells. That's nice, but is has nothing to do with being in good shape.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by PPH ( 736903 )

        Your body automatically regulates your metabolism and makes physical exertion more difficult to prevent overheating your core (and brain). So it is possible to exert yourself (exercise) harder when the temperature gradient between your core and the outside is greater (cooler environment) and you can dissipate more heat.

        This does not apply to sprinters. They never reach temperature equilibrium during a short event. And the initial body reaction is to restrict blood flow to the extremities upon initial conta

  • I dunno how valid what TFA has to say, but I do know that I sleep more soundly in a room that's ~60-65F, and getting enough and high quality sleep has much bearing on your general health.

  • Need a conditoning study (Score:5, Interesting)

    by vix86 ( 592763 ) on Tuesday December 30, 2014 @12:51AM (#48694221)
    This study is interesting, but I'm way more interested in the affect of conditioning and body temp regulation. I grew up in the US and all of houses/apartments always had good temperature control as well as ceiling fans in rooms. I got use to living in places where if the temperature was above say 70F, there was a fan running, the air in a room was circulating.

    When I studied abroad in Japan and then moved there I discovered this wasn't the case and constructed a theory that early life conditions on body temp are 'imprinted' in a way. Japanese tend to let rooms run very hot. In the Summer/Winter rooms and trains are kept at about 28C maybe 30C (possibly higher in the winter), and I always found these miserable and always resulted in me sweating. I always noticed though that most other (Japanese) people never had this problem though, even in a room thats almost as hot as a mid-summer day in the winter, people would have 2-3 layers of clothes on and would be fine. I knew I wasn't alone either because in talking to other westerners living in Japan I learned that many of them had the same issue too. The only reason I've been able to come up with was that it had to do with how they were raised early on and the kind of temp. environment they are use to living in.

    So I'd be curious to see if these physical effects in the study aren't something that isn't tuned by early conditioning.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by rwa2 ( 4391 ) *

      Well, I've lived in cold climates and hot climates... Everyone has a different approach to staying comfortable. It takes years (YEARS) to transition between them, but it's possible... I think you would have acclimated to the Japanese approach after a few more years. I don't think your early childhood experiences really matter.

      I grew up mostly in New England, which has decent extremes in either direction... I think similar to Japan. There's maybe 2 perfect weeks in fall when the temperatures are "just r

    • There is a genetic difference when it comes to sweating;

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

    • Another anecdote for your hunch -- I have a friend who when he was around 13 decided (for unknown reasons) to condition himself to living in cold environment. He'd take baths in cold water, walk barefooted in his unheated room in the winter and so on. For the past 30 years he's been much more tolerant to cold than the rest of us, for example he'd just wear a sweater outside in the snow, and he seems to be in good health.

      I believe we are adaptable even when we get older, though of course less so.

  • If true, that may help explain why the southern US has more obesity than the north, aside from obvious education/income/cultural factors. It also would imply that global warming would lead to global fattening, which has already been seen.

  • German researches found [sciencedaily.com] already similar clues about brown fat. At home my work room temperature has been around +15C (59F) during winter, just to cut heating costs of the old house. It's great to see, that it's not the only benefit.
  • Jump in the ocean, in the middle of summer and let it take the heat out of you. Even better if you can swim, tread water and catch waves - you will feel incredible - that is why I love (and fear) the ocean.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by PPH ( 736903 )

      I swim for exercise. Lakes in the summer, pools during the winter. But the local health club pool has been cranking the heat up gradually (about 84F) to accommodate the non-swimmers. As a result, any extended physical exertion is quite uncomfortable. There is some physiological effect that throttles back your metabolism to prevent overheating your core. At about 76F, its a bit chilly jumping in initially. But once you get moving, the heat generated in your muscles equals the rate of loss and the temperature

  • Benjamin Franklin certainly felt that colder was better. He slept with the window open even in the dead of winter (seriously annoying his travel mates when they had to share rooms in crowded Inns).

  • what else is new (Score:2, Insightful)

    by prefec2 ( 875483 )

    Honestly, 20ÂC (68F) in normal lifing space and 16/18ÂC (60/64.4F) for the bedroom are already communicated for decades as a good environment. So what is new?

    On a side note: I know Slashdot is an US based site.However, Fahrenheit is only used in the US and some territories where you go for holidays. Is it so impossible to at least add the celcius values in brackets?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Njovich ( 553857 )

      Or just spend 5 minutes to get acquainted with Fahrenheit and never have to be annoyed with people not including Celcius ^^

      • Obviously I am able to translate Fahrenheit in Celcius. However, it is an extra effort everyone has to do who lives not in the US. Therefore, it would be more helpful to the readers if the authors could just make that translation. If it takes only 5 min for Fahrenheit it could not be that much more difficult to go in the other direction. On a side note: 6.5 billion people live in a metric/celcius world and only 0.5 billions (or less) live in a body parts/Fahrenheit world. This is 13:1 if you need it in a re

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by N1AK ( 864906 )
        It'd take people 5 mins to get acquanted with any number of outdated and replaced measurements it doesn't mean that they either desire to or should. When I give monetary values on here I tend to give them in US$ rather than GBP because it's an international forum and dollars provide better context. Thoughtful people communicate in ways that help others understand...

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by itzly ( 3699663 )
        It takes 1 minute for the author to write temperature in both scales. It takes N*1 minute for N readers to do the conversion.

  • ... 75 degrees to 66 degrees, ...

    When the article talks about temperatures, they are of course referring to the Kelvin scale, not Celcius, hence the numbers that looks a bit on the high side. (*BING* *BING* Alert: You Have Witnessed A Joke *BING* *BING*)

  • why it's always so cold in our Enterprise Command Center...it must be part of out new Employee Health benefits!
  • Am I the only one reading it as Being a Coder May Be Good For Your Health?

  • No such thing as brown fat. Its muscle tissue that has its mitochondria uncoupled via thermogenin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T... [wikipedia.org]

    Its how animals survive in frigid environments.

  • The body burns fat to stay warm. No shit. It's not as if a calorie being defined as an amount of energy to heat up water or the extensive use of animal fats as fuel could have made that more obvious.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by itzly ( 3699663 )
      Most heat is generated in the body as a waste product of doing other stuff. Burning fat as a primary purpose of staying warm is actually pretty rare for adult human cells.

  • So, when we call an ultra-thin, almost anorexic actress a cold bitch, we might actually be right?

  • when people cool their bedrooms from 75 degrees to 66 degrees

    75'c is cool? And what exactly does a cool 66 degree angle have to do with anything?

    An anonymous reader writes:

    A typical American writes for other typical American readers:

    NB: Written with a hint of sarcasm for the rest of the world to enjoy.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by PPH ( 736903 )

      66 F is cool? That's my daytime t'stat setting (when I'm home). 54 F is my night time house temperature (with a nice, thick comforter).

  • I usually keep my house around 15C (60 F), which is nice and toasty when it is about -20C outside.

  • Half of the state of Florida stays stinky hot almost 365 days a year. It's 85F outside my door right now. We would need to develope a sleeping box that is well insulated with its own cooler as trying to run an AC to take a home to 66F would bankrupt most people. I usually set my AC at 77F to keep my electric bill at a sane level.

  • When it's colder, I'm more upset, more irritated and that puts and keeps me in a poor state of mind. A little more paranoid, a little more apprehensive, a little more concerned about being able to stay warm.

    In winter times, this is important, because it brings one (me) closer to depression and depression is a big demotivator.

    While being colder may be physically better for you, mentally, it can be more of a problem that it is a benefit.

    Just my personal 2 cents on the matter adjusted for inflation.

  • Centigrade, Farenheit or Kelvin?

  • Its not just making the room colder (Score:5, Informative)

    by laoseth ( 955776 ) on Tuesday December 30, 2014 @11:45AM (#48696695)
    My younger brother was actually one of the test subjects in this study. One thing that isn't mentioned in the source article, but is mentioned in here http://www.nih.gov/researchmat... [nih.gov] is that all the subjects got to sleep in at night was a thin bedsheet, and a hospital gown to sleep in. He said the cold month was pretty miserable, especially towards the beginning. Its not like turing your heat down to 62 and then sleeping under a down comforter, it is basically being miserably cold, forcing your body to produce fat to allow you to keep enough heat to actually sleep.

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