Cooler homes may help diabetics shiver way to health

SITTING at home shivering may not seem like a recipe for health but scientists have found that people with type 2 diabetes can improve their condition simply by turning the heating down.

Most homes in winter are heated to 70F (21C), but a team at Maastricht University Medical Centre advises setting the thermostat to between 59F (15C) and 66F (19C) for a few hours a day.

When a group of type 2 diabetics were asked to make the change for 10 days, it increased insulin sensitivity by more than 40 per cent, a result comparable with the best medicines available.

The study’s authors suggest that temperatures in homes and offices should shift between warm and cool through the day to support health.

“It has previously been assumed that stable fixed indoor temperatures would satisfy comfort and health in most people,” said Wouter van Marken Lichtenbelt, Professor of Ecological Energetics and Health at Maastricht University. “However, this research indicates that mild cold and variable temperatures may have a positive effect on our health and at the same time are acceptable or even may create pleasure.”

In 2014, the same team discovered that cooler home temperatures can help tackle obesity. Being colder raises the metabolic rate – the speed at which calories are burnt – by 30pc, and shivering can burn around 400 calories an hour as it increases the metabolic rate fivefold. People in overheated homes and offices do not naturally burn calories to keep warm.

In the latest experiment, researchers found that although shivering can feel uncomfortable, people quickly adapted to lower temperatures and even started to feel more energised.

Richard Lorch, editor of the magazine Building Research and Information, which published the study, said: “The health benefits from a short exposure to a more varied temperature range will redefine our expectations on thermal comfort. In turn, this will change our practices for heating and cooling our buildings.” A reduction in heating would also reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Last month, Ashley Grossman, a Professor of Endocrinology at Oxford University, suggested that opening a bedroom window at night could help prevent obesity and Type 2 diabetes, but this is the first study to show it could reverse the condition.