Why are females so cold? The science behind it all

At Utah State University Logan campus, people complaining about how cold they are is a common occurrence. However, according to experts, women are much more likely to be the ones who seem to never warm up.

USU junior Maddi Aardema has noticed the difference between her reaction to cold temperatures and the reactions of her male friends and family members.

“My uncle keeps the house at icy temperatures,” Aardema said. “And my dad tries to keep our house at icy temperatures and all of us freeze to death.”

Tyson Chappell, an associate professor in the biology department at USU Eastern, explained men’s seemingly stronger tolerance to the cold is no coincidence. Although not all women react the same to the cold, there are scientific reasons behind it.

According to Chappell, there are several factors for why women typically get colder faster and the majority of it comes down to hormones. Since men have more testosterone, they will often have more muscle mass, which results in a higher metabolism and more heat generation.

In fact, Chappell said on average men have a metabolism that’s 23 percent higher than women.

“Muscle mass is so important because muscle produces heat,” Chappell said. “It’s like having little furnaces that are burning coal. But for our bodies — its glucose.”

The effect of hormones on the body’s temperature doesn’t end there, the warmer the body is, the faster the blood flows to the peripheral parts of the body.

Because women typically don’t generate as much heat, their blood flow is slower, taking heat longer to get to those parts of their bodies.

On top of that, women typically have a higher fluctuation of hormones in their bodies which causes their internal temperature to fluctuate and they end up having a harder time adapting to changing environmental temperatures.

Another reason, as Chappell explained, is due to men generally having a larger frame.

“In general men will be larger, so they are going to have more insulation,” Chappell said. “And a bigger body doesn’t dissipate or lose heat as quickly as a smaller body.”

To help his students apply this concept in class, Chappell describes the scene in the movie “Twilight” when the main character, Bella, cuddles with the werewolf, Jacob, instead of the vampire, Edward, because Jacob generated more heat.

This concept can also be seen in everyday life.

While Aardema prefers her apartment to be 72 degrees Fahrenheit, Hunter Hudson, another junior at USU, prefers his apartment to be 68 degrees.

Both students disagree with the other and claim the temperatures to be too hot or too cold.

Although, women’s cores are normally warmer than men, the contrast between the warm core and the cold peripheral parts of the body makes those parts feel even colder than they actually are.

Further connections between hormones and temperature are due to the thyroid gland.

Women have a 10 times higher rate of having thyroid problems than men.

If the thyroid gland isn’t producing the thyroid hormone — which tells all the cells in the body to burn more energy — then the cells aren’t being told to make more heat.

Additionally, there have been studies that show women’s hands to be colder.

“Women’s hands are about 2.8 degrees colder than men’s,” Chappell said. “That’s showing physical evidence that women aren’t just complaining.”

Although women seem to have the short end of the stick, there are ways to remedy this situation.

Muscle mass and metabolism are the main reasons women tend to be colder, so the more muscle mass one builds, the warmer a person will be. In other words, hitting the gym won’t hurt.

-Brielle.Carr@usu.edu