As of late, I’ve been feeling it in the air. Haven’t you? I wake in the morning and just want to stay under the comfort of my warm covers just a bit longer. I am pulling my longer sleeves and heavier weighted clothing out of hibernation. Less appealing is the Greek yogurt with berries or a freshly blended smoothie. I am instead opting to add those berries to a steaming hot bowl of steel cut oats and starting my day with a hot beverage. My thermostat confirms, there has been a chill in the air.
Chances are, cooler temperatures are likely to be with us for the next several months as we head into winter. While some people may be wary of the colder weather, worried that it brings colds and flus searching for hosts, I want to encourage you to embrace the change in climate as cold air also brings potential health benefits.
As we neared the end of Daylight Savings Time, in the article Our Internal Clockwork, we discussed how circadian rhythm and well rested sleep are vital to our health. Do you toss and turn and find it difficult to sleep on an unusually hot night? As you near bedtime, your circadian rhythm signals your body to cool down, which releases melatonin, a hormone that helps you to fall asleep. A National Library of Medicine article states: “Sleep maintenance insomnia has been associated not with a circadian rhythm timing abnormality, but with nocturnally elevated core body temperature. Combination of sleep onset and maintenance insomnia has been associated with a 24-h elevation of core body temperature supporting the chronic hyper-arousal model of insomnia.” When possible, if you are having trouble falling asleep, cooling your surrounding environment may help the process along.
One simple way to warm up during the colder months is to get moving. How beneficial I find that, because these colder months are filled with delectable offerings of both the savory and sweet varieties. We can enjoy those treats in moderation, then work off the calories and get warm with a fun, fat-burning workout.
Though I do not want you to intentionally get freezing cold, I found an interesting study, published in Cell Metabolism, that found that shivering for fifteen minutes in a cold environment could have benefits similar to exercising.
However, that sounds like torture to me. Though, I welcome workouts in cooler temps because we breathe easier when the air is cool and dense. Dr. Adam Tenforde of Harvard affiliated Spaulding Rehabilitation Network said, “In colder temperatures your heart doesn’t have to work as hard, you sweat less, and expend less energy, all of which means you can exercise more efficiently.”
I have a bonus health benefit to share: Our bodies have three primary types of fat—white, brown, and beige. White fat is the most widely known type of fat, and while your body needs some for energy and hormone function, too much may increase your risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and more. Brown fat burns fatty acids to keep your body warm. Beige fat, like brown, can help burn fat rather than store it. Some hormones when released, when you are cold or when you exercise, can help convert white fat into beige fat. The findings of a study reported in a National Institute of Health article suggest that the human body may be able to “acclimate to cool temperature by increasing brown fat, which in turn may lead to improvements in glucose metabolism.”
I do not like to be cold, but I love to sleep, I love to enjoy food, and though I do not like to exercise, I love a fun workout that maximizes my benefits for my effort. Bring on the chill factor!
Contributing writer Denise Lum is a Health and Fitness Coach raising her family in Alameda. Contact her via [email protected] or FitnessByDsign.com. Her writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Denise-Lum.
