Table of contents:
- 1. Shivering
- 2. Eat a lot
- 3. Drink lots of water
- 4. Adjust your body to cold weather
- 5. Keep your body dry
- 6. Keep your core body temperature warm
When it is cold outside, you must wear thick or layered clothes to warm your body. In fact, if your room's air conditioner is installed at a low temperature, you will be pulling a thick blanket over your body. Here are 6 ways to warm your body when cold.
1. Shivering
Shivering is a sign that you are cold and need to warm up as soon as possible. This condition is one of the body's natural responses to the environment.
When your skin temperature drops, you will shiver to keep your core body temperature from dropping too. Shivering is an attempt to warm the body because the body responds to the temperature of the environment by vibrating all the muscles in the body to produce heat naturally.
People with mild hypothermia will shiver, but those with moderate hypothermia may not. The body will stop shivering when the muscle contractions can no longer generate heat. This means that when you stop shivering, your core body temperature drops.
2. Eat a lot
Eating more when you feel cold is a great way to maintain your body temperature. By eating food, you can maintain blood sugar, which can provide energy for the body to stay warm.
Eat foods that the body digests slowly, such as fatty foods. When your body digests food, it burns energy, which makes you feel warmer. Therefore, if the food you eat takes longer to digest your body, you will also feel warmer for longer.
3. Drink lots of water
Another way to warm the body when it is cold is to maintain water intake in the body. A well hydrated body can provide better warmth as well. Drink hot water that will give you a warm sensation, even if it doesn't actually raise your internal body temperature.
According to a professor from the University of Pennsylvania, Michael Cirigliano, MD, the mouth is one of the most sensitive parts of your body. So, if hot water touches your mouth, you will feel a warm sensation.
4. Adjust your body to cold weather
The body has more capabilities than you can imagine. It has a special mechanism to keep itself warm. People who spend a lot of time in cold weather can make themselves more resistant to low temperatures. But the mechanisms in this body are not fully understood.
5. Keep your body dry
Sweating or wet clothes can make you feel colder. Therefore, if the weather is cold, you should use clothes that can absorb sweat. If your clothes get wet, you should change your clothes immediately. Try to keep your body dry.
6. Keep your core body temperature warm
To keep body temperature warm, it's best to wear closed clothes. You also need to wear socks, gloves, and a hat as a way to warm yourself up when it's cold.
Usually the parts that feel cold first are the feet and hands, before the cold spreads to other parts of the body. This is a form of the body's mechanism of maintaining core body temperature. When cold, blood flow is prioritized to the vital parts of the body, so that your feet and hands will feel cold first.
Keeping your body covered is the best way you can do to maintain body warmth.
