Women can handle the cold BETTER than men, surprising research shows
- The heat retention mechanisms for women operate at a lower temperature
- While men use energy to stay warm at 23 degrees Celsius, women do so at 22 degrees Celsius
It has long been thought that women feel the cold more than men.
But a new study suggests otherwise: It found that women’s heat retention mechanisms actually kick in at a lower temperature compared to their male peers.
Researchers recruited 28 young, healthy, lean volunteers for their study, 16 of whom were women and 12 of whom were men.
The team took a series of measures while the participants were exposed to temperatures ranging from 17ºC to 31ºC.
As part of the study, they also calculated each person’s ‘lower critical temperature’.
It has long been thought that women feel the cold more than men. But a new study suggests otherwise: It found that women’s heat retention mechanisms actually kick in at a lower temperature compared to their male peers (stock image)
This is the minimum temperature that can be tolerated before the body has to ‘react’ to keep a person warm.
Analysis showed that while men started using energy to stay warm at around 23 degrees Celsius, women did so closer to 22 degrees Celsius.
The scientists also found that women were better able to maintain their body temperature as their environment became cooler, and were better insulated against the cold.
The researchers from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, said women may have more protection against the cold because they tend to have more body fat than men.
Writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), they said: ‘Conventionally it is believed that women feel colder than men, but controlled comparisons are scarce.
The scientists found that women were better able to maintain their core temperature as their environment became cooler and were better insulated against the cold (stock image)
‘We found that women had a cooler, lower critical temperature, which appears to be an ‘arctic’ shift compared to men.
‘The more arctic profile of women was mainly driven by higher insulation associated with more body fat compared to men.’
Despite this, there was no significant difference between the coldest tolerable temperature reported for men and women in the study.
There was also no significant difference in the amount of chills or thermal comfort reported as temperatures decreased.