Do women really feel the cold more than men?
With winter fast approaching, the stereotype that women feel the cold more than men might not have any truth to it.
The fight between men and women over the office (or home) thermostat and what the optimal temperature should be is a well-known one.
One study has even found that four in 10 women secretly turn up the heating behind their partner’s back, writes The Guardian.
Whether it’s taking hotter showers or needing to wear more layers, some of the generalisations that claim women are more sensitive to cold than men have been tackled.
And the results vary.
OPTIMAL TEMPERATURE
A study by Dutch scientists in 2015 found that women are comfortable at a temperature 2.5 C warmer than men, typically between 24-25C.
Men and women have a similar core body temperature, at over 37ºC. Some studies have in fact revealed that a woman’s core body temperature is slightly higher (pouring ‘cold water’ on the assumption that men run at a higher body temp.)
The perception of temperature however is said to depend more on skin temperature. For women, this tends to be lower.
The average temperature of women’s hands exposed to cold has been found to be nearly 3ºC lower than that in men.
Women are also five times more prone to Reynaud’s disease. This is a condition where blood vessels that supply blood to the extremities spasm and constrict in response to cold or stress.
With this condition, fingers and toes can turn white and then blue from the lack of blood and oxygen.
METABOLISM AND BODY COMPOSITION
Women generally have a lower metabolic rate than men. In fact, men’s metabolic rate can be up to 23% higher. What this means is women’s bodies burn calories at a slower rate, translating to less heat generation from internal processes.
Women also generally have less muscle compared to men, and muscle is a natural heat producer.
In terms of body size, women tend to be smaller than men. This gives women a higher skin surface to body volume ratio — causing them to lose heat more quickly through the skin.
A COLD COUNTER STUDY
A groundbreaking study conducted by researchers at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has challenged many of these notions, or even myths.
In this study, a split group of men and women participated in a controlled environment where they spent five hours in a room with varying temperatures, ranging from 17ºC to 31ºC.
They were provided with clothing appropriate for the conditions and were monitored both physically and through surveys to assess their comfort levels.
Contrary to what was expected, the study revealed no significant difference in how men and women perceived the coldness of the room.
Surprisingly, women exhibited slightly higher core body temperatures than men in colder conditions, despite their generally lower heat production due to lesser muscle mass.
Physiological responses, such as glucose uptake and cold-induced thermogenesis (when one starts shivering), showed minimal differences between the sexes.
The study also indicated that the comfort zone for temperature among women participants dipped to approximately 22°C, slightly lower than that of mem.
This implies that the female body doesn’t have to expend energy for warmth as soon as the male body. This gives women a more “arctic” thermal profile.
MORE EVIDENCE IS REQUIRED
Ultimately, there aren’t enough studies that have thoroughly tested sex differences in thermoregulation, while the whole field of human physiology has mostly defaulted to the male body for its studies.
Hormonal changes and medications can also impact how a person responds to and perceives temperature changes. These factors in turn can be influenced by a person’s sex or gender.