Women feel the cold more

at what temperature to set the heating? It’s a classic discussion. It turns out that gender influences how we feel hot or cold. That’s right: women feel the cold more, and science explains why.

Previous research has always agreed that women prefer a higher indoor temperature than men. But why do women feel colder than men? A new study outlines an answer to this question.

Women feel the cold more. Science explains why.
Women feel the cold more. Science explains why.

Metabolism

A good explanation is that anatomical and hormonal differences play a role. For one thing, women tend to have fewer muscles to generate heat. There is also more fat between the skin and the muscles, so the skin feels cooler. Why is that? Because it is a little further away from the blood vessels. This is how it is published The Conversation.

They also tend to have a lower metabolic rate than men. And this reduces heat production capacity during cold exposure.

Estrogen hormones are in large amounts in women. These dilate the blood vessels in the extremities. This means that more heat can be lost to the surrounding air. Another hormone, progesterone, can cause the skin vessels to constrict. What happens then? Less blood will flow to some areas to keep the internal organs warmer. This hormonal balance changes along with the menstrual cycle.

Remember this in the next discussion on heating.
Remember it in the next heating discussion.

Not only humans

This logic applies not only to humans, but also to animals. In many birds and mammals males commonly congregate in cooler areas where there is shade. Females and young remain in warmer environments where there is sunlight.

Female mammals would prefer warmer climates to rest with their young when they are unable to regulate their own body temperature. Heat-sensing mechanisms may be evidence of an evolutionary advantage.

Now we know why females feel the cold more. To be taken into account in the next discussion of heating.

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