We’ve been experiencing it. Some have reveled in it and some have cursed it. Some plain love it and wish we had it year round. Brrrr, it’s getting colder and colder each day. Winter’s here, temperatures are dropping, and chances are that it’ll get even colder. All that most of us want to do is cozy up indoors with a mug of hot tea and a heartwarming movie.
Whether you hate it or love it there are surprisingly health benefits to cold weather or so they say. At least we are going to lead ourselves to believe this at this time. Here are some unexpected health benefits that you may not have known were true.
It may help you burn off calories. Adding layers upon layers must definitely mean we are carrying more weight so we burn calories. Then we can add the shoveling of snow that generally comes with the cold. That definitely burns a calorie or two. Apparently, just 15 minutes spent shivering in a cold environment has the same effect as exercising for an hour. Neither one sounds appealing.
The cold can help you fight off infections they say. Maybe the infections can’t get through the layers to say gotcha. Catching a cold is still likely during cold weather, but you are in the clear for several diseases and viruses that are more prevalent during warmer temperatures. Mosquitos are known to carry a lot of diseases, but during the winter they are hibernating or frozen stiff more likely. Studies show for the most part that, “the human immune system can be activated when exposed to the cold, and it enhances someone’s ability to fight infections.”
It can help you get a better night’s sleep. A day out in the cold has the tendency to make us tired. Can’t argue with that. It is known that while you sleep that your body’s core temperature drops faster during the winter than in the summer. If you keep your bedroom temperature between 60 and 67 degrees, you are likely to burn more calories.
Supposedly it can improve your brain function. So how smart are we if we can’t think to get in out of the cold. But for those who love the cold – maybe we should check their brain function. (Just a little humor folks for those who like the cold. For those who hate the cold, they do wonder about the mental health of the ones who love it.)
The cold can give your heart a kickstart. Well walking out into the sub zeroes we’ve had lately from a warm room without a coat, can definitely jump start the old system. When you are doing various activities outside in the cold weather it is actually good for your heart (as long as you don’t overdo it).
The experts also seem to think that cold temperatures help you to think clearly. They think that when you set the room at a cooler temperature rather than a warm temperature, you perform your tasks better. That or you just sit and shiver. But then again that burns up the calories. Win Win either way. They are correct – the cold makes working out fun and challenging. Not sure about the fun part, but definitely more challenging. The cold also allows more oxygenated blood to compensate for the activity. This ensures the body maintains a warm temperature to stay balanced, and avoid a drop in temperature.
Cold temperatures can be good for your skin’s health due to the fact it constrains blood vessels in the skin and lowers inflammation. This then makes the blood vessels less likely to have redness and swelling. Did you know your joints are supposed to feel less swollen or puffy during the winter season? This is because the cold acts like a natural ice pack to help decrease inflammation. I’m not sure I can agree with this one. You hear more people complaining about joints hurting in the winter generally.
Being exposed to cold can mean a longer life. Researchers have studied worms, mice and muscles and found exposure to cold temperatures resulted in longer lives. The lifespan for mice increased by up to 20 percent when the core body temperature was reduced. Hmm we may live forever then.
Okay this is a new one – it increases brown fat. Oh lordy just what we want, more fat. But hold on to your hats, brown fat is the mitochondria-packed fat cells that burn energy and produces heat in your body. People with a lower body mass index tend to have a higher content of brown fat. Study shows, “when men are exposed to cooler temperatures they have an increase in brown fat and a corresponding boost in metabolism.”
So cold improves allergies. Just a minute – allergies aren’t being added and made worse. It is good news for those with outdoor allergies; pollen counts are nonexistent in the cold and snowy weather. (That’s because the pollen is frozen, same as us!) If you spend time outside in the snow you will not have to worry about any allergies, but inside you are still exposed to things like mold and dust mites.
The cold does have a benefit that the experts don’t talk about. For those who hate the cold and love the warm; cold makes us appreciate those long warm summer days even more. And for those who love the cold for skiing and snowmobiling – have at it, just a few more months and you’ll be sweatin right along with the rest of us. So how many days till summer?? Reading is always a cool thing.