It’s easy to look out at the current cold snap with dread, and treat the mercury dropping as an excuse to cosy up indoors and turn up the heating rather than head out into the elements.
But, tackled wisely, exposure to chillier temperatures can actually have a number of surprising benefits – stimulating a healthy immune response and having a positive influence on metabolism, as well as improving sleep and mood.
Although it goes without saying that the cold brings risks with it, especially if you are older or have health concerns such as heart or circulation issues, for healthy individuals a little bit of a chill can be a good thing (and the idea that you’ll “catch a chill” is pure old wives’ tale).
“When we’re exposed to low temperatures, our bodies go into a state of stress which activates a variety of defence mechanisms within both our innate and adaptive immune systems,” explains Professor Lindsy Kass, a senior research fellow and physiologist at the University of Hertfordshire.
“The innate immune system is the body’s first line of defence, and includes physical barriers such as the skin and mucus making it harder for pathogens to enter the body,” says Kass. “When exposed to cold, the blood vessels in the skin constrict, reducing blood flow to the extremities in an effort to conserve heat – but not only does it conserve heat, this tightening can also make it harder for pathogens to enter,” she says.
Cold temperatures can also stimulate the production of heat shock proteins and white blood cells, which fight infection. “These heat shock proteins help to repair damaged proteins and prevent cell death, so by inducing their production, cold exposure can enhance the overall effectiveness of the immune system,” adds Kass. “Meanwhile, this increase in white blood cell production is part of the body’s natural response to stress and helps to strengthen the immune system.”
This is the case for short periods of exposure to the cold, rather than chronic exposure which can suppress the immune system and have a deleterious effect on all our body’s systems. In order to reap health benefits, we should not be looking to get cold and stay cold, but instead be brave enough to “perturb” the body with changes in temperature now and then, says Professor Mike Tipton, professor of human and applied physiology at the University of Portsmouth’s Extreme Environments Laboratory.
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Read More“As humans we have become rather too comfortable – we’ve become what I call ‘thermostatic’,” he says. “Our ability to control our environments has meant we live day-to-day without any perturbations of our temperature system. But you know the old adage, ‘Use it or lose it?’ it may apply just as much to our thermoregulatory systems as to exercise – in order to maintain our functionality, we must turn the system on now and again.”
Tipton explains that humans are built to maintain a consistent internal environment – but that the processes which allow us to maintain this environment need to be challenged if we are to remain healthy. He points to the cultural use of both extremes of heat and cold, from saunas to ice dipping, as proof that we have instinctively known this for many years.
One adaptation our bodies make to cold temperatures is what’s known as “brown fat” – a type of fat which actually produces heat. Babies have more of it than adults, and use it to regulate their body temperatures, but as we age, it drops away (possibly because our thermoregulation systems mature and it is no longer needed as much, but perhaps partly, too, because we no longer face extremes of temperature often in centrally-heated modern life).
“Unlike white fat, the adipose tissue you find on your tummy or bum, brown fat has many mitochondria, which are responsible for producing energy,” says Kass. This brown fat is usually located in the neck, around the shoulder blades and kidneys, and along the spinal cord – and it’s brown because of those iron-rich mitochrondia, which give it its colour. The mitochondria are signalled by cold exposure to begin burning calories to produce body heat – and because of brown fat’s ability to burn calories, researchers have been studying its potential role in treating obesity.
“One study even found that those with more brown fat had a lower risk of cardiometabolic disease. Although exposure to cold increases the activity of brown fat, it is not clear to what degree it can create more of it, though research is ongoing,” says Kass.
Another benefit of habituating yourself to the cold is that the more you face it, the less you’ll feel it. “Our bodies naturally respond to low temperatures by shivering and upping our metabolic rate to generate heat, constricting our blood vessels to reduce heat loss by radiation, contracting our hair erector muscles to trap warm air at skin level for extra insulation, and stopping sweating,” says Kass.
But over time, once you become “used” to being in the cold, these reactions will lessen. This is a good thing for your comfort levels, as you won’t perceive yourself to be cold, but do be careful, says Tipton, as that doesn’t mean you aren’t cold or that your core temperature isn’t dropping – and you’ll be in just as much danger of hypothermia or other ill effects of low temperature.
“Dressing for the cold is part of making the most of it. Facing the elements well prepared like this can lift the mood and getting outdoors despite the weather is key for maintaining fitness and mental health. “The cold may make you want to sit indoors but we know that getting moving and getting out in the daylight will ultimately be better for you,” adds Kass.
This is partly because exposure to outdoor light in the daytime helps us to sleep better at night – as does a slightly colder bedroom. Between 14°C and 17°C is optimum, according to several studies.
This is because as part of the process of falling asleep, our body temperature drops – and it is aided by a cool ambient temperature rather than a stuffy atmosphere. Not only have studies shown that we sleep deeper and longer at just below “room temperature” rather than just above, but a strong body of research has shown that melatonin, a hormone involved in sleep, is secreted the most at temperatures between 15°C and 20°C, says Kass.
While exercising in extreme cold can be bad for performance, the ideal temperature for many types of exercise is around 11°C, says Tipton. This is the temperature on a cold day in an unheated gym, or the garage where you keep your exercise bike.
So rather than shying away from the cold snap, could this become the first winter you make the most of it?
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