COOLER NIGHTS, SWEETER HEARTS
Sultry evenings not only jeopardise your summer body, they increase your risk of diabetes, too. But don’t sweat it, just cool it
Chasing the cool side of the pillow is a familiar tale on hot summer nights. But when trying to beat bedroom heat, there’s a lot more at stake than simply safeguarding your eight hours. In fact, a cool evening breeze could be the key to a longer, leaner life.
While diabetes might not feel like a pressing concern for many patrons of these pages, metabolic syndrome – the markers of which are more likely to be found in men who appreciate the sweeter things in life – is an increasingly common health risk. Affecting an estimated quarter of all Brits, the common condition raises your odds of developing type-2 diabetes five-fold while doubling your heart- disease risk. Crucially, recent research from Leiden University in the Netherlands suggests metabolic syndrome is more likely to take hold in warmer temperatures.
It’s all down to body fat. Brown fat (the good kind) burns up calories to generate heat, while white fat simply swaddles your middle. Moving from a warm office to a balmy bedroom in the summer means your body has no need to produce brown fat to maintain your temperature. This leads to more white fat being stored, thereby raising blood sugar and cholesterol.
Fortunately, the journal Plos One reports that it takes as little as a 4°C drop in bedroom temperature to ramp up your body’s brown fat conversion process. So open a window this evening and rest easy in the knowledge that you’re cooling off your health worries overnight. Just pray it doesn’t rain.