Women DON’T feel cold more than men ( )

So why do they like to hog the duvet?

IT’S long been thought that women feel the cold more – shivering with chilly hands and feet while men somehow always seem able to stay warmer.

That belief, however, is wrong according to a study into how the body reacts to falling temperatures.

Researchers analysed young, healthy, slim volunteers and found that women’s heat conservation mechanisms kick in at a lower level compared with men.

The team took measurements from a group of 16 female and 12 male participants as they were exposed to temperatures ranging from 17C to 31C.

The ‘lower critical temperature’ of each was also calculated. This is the minimum temperature that can be tolerated before the body reacts to keep warm.

Analysis revealed men started to expend energy to keep warm at around 23C but in women this began at closer to 22C. The scientists also found that women were better at maintaining their core body temperature as their environment got cooler. In addition, women had better insulation against the cold as they tend to have more body fat than men.

‘Conventionally, women are perceived to feel colder but controlled comparisons are scarce,’ said the researchers. ‘We found women had a cooler lower critical temperature, resembling an “arctic” shift compared to men.

‘The more arctic profile of women was predominantly driven by higher insulation associated with more body fat.’ Despite this, there was no significant difference between the coldest tolerable temperature reported for men and women. There was also no major difference in the amount of shivering as the temperature dropped.

The study by the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, US, was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.