Women feel the cold more than men, expert explains

15 December 2023, 12:02 | Updated: 15 December 2023, 12:33

By Hope Wilson

Dr Michael Mosley has confirmed that cooler temperatures can affect people differently.

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An expert has explained why women feel the cold more than men.

During an interview, diet and wellbeing expert Dr Michael Mosley revealed how the body copes with colder temperatures, explaining that there is a three-degree difference between how men and women feel the cold.

While discussing his new podcast, Dr Mosley even gave a real-world example of how cooler temperatures can affect people differently.

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He said: "There is a battle of the thermostat which takes place in our house, as in a lot of households. I prefer the cold. My wife prefers the warm and I discovered while making the podcast, this is based in physiology. The expert told me that broadly speaking, there’s a three-degree difference that women feel the cold."

Women tend to feel the cold more than men. Picture: Alamy

Dr Mosley continued: "They start to shiver around three degrees higher than men do. So I feel more sympathetic. But you do it not just for the purposes of this programme. Part of the reason is, obviously you want to save some money. It’s good for the planet and particularly obviously during the winter months.

"There are studies which I came across in the course of making this series, which suggests that, for example, if you are at risk of type two diabetes and 11 years ago I had type two diabetes, I managed to get rid of it at least for a while, by losing significant weight."

Dr Michael Mosley explained why women feel the cold more than men. Picture: Alamy

Dr Mosley added: "There was a study where they took a group of type two diabetics, and they asked him to stay in around 14 degrees for 10 days, they became what’s called cold-adapted because when you are in a cold temperature, you start to produce this stuff called brown fat and brown fat is absolutely stuffed with mitochondria.

"You burn more calories, but it also helps to improve your insulin sensitivity. There appear to be some genuine science and reasons why you might want to be a little bit cooler."