Why does fat get cold

When scientists studied aspects of the event in , they found that swimmers with a greater body mass index BMI appear to be at much lower risk of getting hypothermia. Studies have shown that it takes longer to induce hypothermia in obese patients than in their leaner counterparts.

Under certain conditions, though, overweight people might feel colder than people of average weight. Smaller people, who have more surface area compared to the total volume of their bodies, lose heat more quickly.

A more muscular physique may also offer some protection against hypothermia, partly because muscle tissue generates lots of heat. This article originally appeared on Popular Science. For you. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options. Although it might be easy to assume that your chubbiest, hairiest friend will be much better off in the depths of winter, the science on being cold is actually a bit more complex than that.

Firstly, feeling cold and actually being cold are two different things. The reason why we experience the cold differently is due to a mix of shape, size, age and gender influences. Because we generate heat within and lose it from the surface, the body mass-to-skin ratio comes into play, with bigger people generating more heat while losing less.

However, fat can play a small role. Anecdotally, women seem to complain about being cold more, and that could well be because on average they have smaller bodies than males do. Your experience of cold can also have genetic influences.

A twin study found that the feeling of cold in hands and feet is highly heritable, meaning that the basis for feeling excessively cold could be inherited from your parents. What about that idea that you lose most of your heat from your head? Request Appointment. Healthy Lifestyle Weight loss. Products and services.

Free E-newsletter Subscribe to Housecall Our general interest e-newsletter keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics. Sign up now. What is brown fat? How is it different from other body fat? Answer From Donald Hensrud, M. With Donald Hensrud, M. Show references Loh RKC, et al. Human brown adipose tissue as a target for obesity management; beyond cold-induced thermogenesis. Obesity Reviews. Accessed Oct. Leung WKC, et al. Association of markers of proinflammatory phenotype and beige adipogenesis with metabolic syndrome in Chinese centrally obese adults.

Journal of Diabetes Research. Hwang Y-C, et al. The ratio of skeletal muscle mass to visceral fat area is a main determinant linking circulating irisin to metabolic phenotype.