Why Do Women Feel the Cold more than Men?

We all have distinct preferences for when it is the correct time to draw out winter blankets. And the thermostat’s setup frequently forms the basis of office debates between women and men concerning the “appropriate” temperature for it to be configured.

Between the sexes, there is usually more likeness than differences. However, studies constantly reveal that females choose an elevated indoor temperature over males.

Is there any science supporting the extensive theory that women “feel the cold” much more than men?

Biological differences between men and women

Women often tend to have reduced muscle to produce heat at around the same body weight. Women likewise have extra fat between the skin and the muscle mass, so the skin feels colder as it is slightly more away from blood vessels.

Women also often tend to have a lower metabolic rate than men, which minimizes warm generation capability during the cold exposition, making women more susceptible to feeling cold as the temperature goes down.

Hormonal differences

The hormones estrogen and progesterone, found in large volumes in women, collaborate the core body and skin temperatures.

Estrogen expands blood vessels at the extremities. This signifies that more warmth can be lost to the involving air. And progesterone can create the vessels in the skin to restrict, signifying less blood will move to some locations to maintain the interior parts warmer, leaving women feeling cooler. This hormone balance adjustments throughout the month along with the menstrual cycle.

The hormones also make ladies’ hands, feet, and ears remain around three degrees Celsius cooler than men’s.

The center body temperature is most significant in the week after ovulation, as progesterone levels enhance. This means that women may be remarkably delicate to cooler exterior temperatures around this moment.

Although the hands and feet are colder, women have warmer average core temperatures than boys. This is likely the origin of the proverb “cold hands, warm heart”.

Is it only human beings?

The phenomenon that a portion of us choose warmer temperatures over others is not exceptional to human beings. Studies on several species of birds and mammals state that males typically gather together in cooler areas where there is shadow, while females and offspring stay in warmer atmospheres where there is sunlight.

Male bats prefer to rest at the cold, high peaks of mountains, while females stay in the warmer valleys.

Female mammals may have cultivated a choice for hotter weather to encourage them to rest with offspring during stages when the young cannot regulate their body temperature.

So the difference between heat-sensing mechanisms may provide an evolutionary benefit.

How do we concur on the appropriate temperature?

The “Scandinavian sleep method”, where pairs rest with separate blankets, is one way to eliminate the differences in temperature preferences.

In the work environment, personal comfort systems are warm or cool thermal systems and can be regionally placed in private work stations such as desktops, chairs, or near the feet and legs. Instances involve little desk fans, warmed chairs, blankets, or footwarmers.

These systems give individualized thermal comfort to satisfy individual demands without influencing others in the same room and have been discovered to produce greater comfort satisfaction in the workplace.

They might also be an energy-efficient method to balance thermal comfort and health in office environments.

Read the original article on The Conversation.

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