Ever sat in an air-conditioned or well ventilated room and felt like you were stuck in a snow blizzard freezing your toes off, while everyone else around you seemed fine? Some probably even complained it was warm… What?!
Well, don’t fret, because there is some scientific reasoning behind this. You’re not a cold-blooded weirdo after all! If you or a friend always seem to find yourselves freezing or getting colder faster than other people, here are some reasons why:
1. You have a slower metabolism rate
If you’re constantly feeling chilly, it could be due to your slow metabolism rate which could be caused by a number of factors including stress, aging, lack of sleep, exercise, and the list goes on.
Metabolism is a chemical process that takes place to regulate and maintain certain functions including weight, energy, and of course, heat levels in your body. It controls the way fat is handled, it influences your weight, it controls glucose and insulin levels, as well as body heat! With that said, individuals with high metabolism rates tend to feel warmer easier and faster than most.
2. Your hormones are all over the place
When the temperature around us changes, our hot and cold nerve cell receptors send messages to our brains and this is when our bodies feel either hotter or colder. However studies have found that there are nerve cell receptors within the spinal cord that are not stimulated by outside temperatures. Instead, they get their sensory information from hormones, proteins and other biochemical compounds within the body.
This is why individuals facing menstruation, menopause, depression and even a fever tend to feel chilly from time to time and hot during other times. This also explains why you and your gang could be seated in the same room, but you might be feeling extremely cold while they feel completely fine, or vice versa.
3. You may have genes that overreact to cold
Source: ScienceMag
Known as the Raynaud’s Disease, a study found that this is something that can be found in our genes and is highly hereditary. Don’t be alarmed though! You’d be happy to know that this isn’t abnormal, but fairly common.
The Reynaud’s Disease happens when our peripheral blood vessels overreact to cold–yes, they can overreact too–and is also an incurable disease. Don’t worry, it’s not something that is fatal and there are ways to treat it and keep it on the down low.
4. You’re a female
Unfortunately, because of a woman’s fluctuating hormones (and lower testosterone levels), this can cause them to feel colder much easier. In men, the higher testosterone levels tend to reduce their sensitivity to the cold by desensitizing one of the main cold receptors known as the–get ready for this–transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily M member 8, or TRPM8 for short.
To put it simply, this is the cold and menthol receptor in the skin. When desensitized, a person’s ability to feel cold is also decreased.
5. It could be a sign of thyroid disease
Source: YgeiaOnline
The thyroid is a gland located at the base of your neck which helps regulate metabolism. If this gland is unable to produce enough thyroid hormones, or if your body doesn’t process the hormones properly you may become hypothyroid. Becoming hypothyroid will lead to many symptoms, one of which include feeling cold.
6. Or you’re simply physically smaller compared to all your friends
Source: PRI
You don’t necessarily have to have any of the prior mentioned diseases if you constantly find yourself feeling cold. It could simply mean you’re a bit smaller than the rest of your friends. How well your body keeps warm can depend greatly on your body size rather than how much fat you have. Also, because the body generates heat from within and loses it on the surface, the body mass-to-skin ratio comes into play. Basically, bigger sized individuals can generate more heat as compared to smaller sized people.
7. Living in a warm and humid country such as Malaysia makes it harder for us to adapt to the cold
Source: Malay Mail
According to a German biologist called Carl Bermann, he found that in places where the environment is colder, like Antarctica or even Europe, people are generally larger in size compared to those living in warmer environments. This finding is known today as the Burmann’s rule. That’s why when we visit colder countries, the (larger sized) locals there seem to have less of an issue facing the chilly air while we on the other hand have like, 10 layers on. No wonder ang mohs so tall!
Another study also found that those living in relatively cold areas possessed more of the ADRA2A and ADRA2C genes which play a role in vasoconstriction in the body. Meaning, they’re better at retaining heat within their bodies.
Evidently, feeling cold can be due to a number of factors, more than we can write about! If you’ve been suffering from this and it gets unbearable, do make sure to give your doctor a visit! After all, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Also read: Drinking One Soft Drink Daily Lowers Chances of Getting Pregnant, Study Shows
