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The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold

bbc.com

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Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold

#101

Post by philsnow »

buserror wrote: post #17
magic_beans wrote: post #13

> Gasping and panicking, they inhaled water. Friðþórsson, by contrast, managed to control his breathing. He later described remaining clear-headed throughout his swim. I wish the article had gone into Friðþórsson's breathing a bit more. It seems like this and/or his body fat are what kept him alive.

You get used to that cold shock, I take a cold shower every day for many many years, and quite frankly I don't feel a "cold shock" anymore, even in winter. It's really just requires a bit of training to get less sensitive to cold; on the other hand I also have a tendency to get warm a lot quicker, which can be a bit annoying sometimes. I keep my house at 18C and no warmer, when many people I know want 21C or sometime…

> You get used to that cold shock

I'm currently only taking cold showers, this is the third time I've started doing so. The very first one was quite an experience: my vision turned gray for a few seconds, I couldn't breathe, and I nearly fell over. The next day's was a little jarring but tolerable, and it kept on like that, a little less each day.

Then I fell out of the habit. My second and third times getting back into it, I didn't experience nearly the same drastic physiological effects, it was Day Two over and over again.

Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold

#102

Post by banku_brougham »

henrikschroder wrote: post #87
batmansmk wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On that point, I wanted to share something you may relate to: my Filipino wife is always freezing in SF. I'm from Scandinavian descent, I could live as naked as a jaybird in the Bay Area weather. Where can't I find a blanket thick on the left, thin on the right? :)

Things Americans do that completely baffle me: In a double bed, they have two pillows, but only one blanket, and end up having fights and struggles about the blanket. You've already solved the problem with the pillows. You don't fight over a shared pillow. Come on, you can figure out how to solve the problem with the blanket as well. "You can have two blankets in a double bed?" Yes. There you go. You're welcome.

>You've already solved the problem with the pillows.

This phrase will help me remember a very important concept.

Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold

#103

Post by grecy »

noir_lord wrote: post #51

I do wonder how much of this is genetic. My ancestry is Celtic (Scottish on one side, Irish the other) and I have a high resistance to cold, until I lived with my partner I’d have the the windows ajar even in winter and rarely put the heating on, I’m rarely cold even when cycling long distances on days with the temperature around zero and I wear t-shirts year around, I find jumpers and shirts stifling in any normal t…

eh. My family is Australian since a while back, and I moved to the Yukon to live.

I thoroughly enjoy riding my bike to work at and beyond -40(C/F), and am always out snowshoeing, snowboarding, ice fishing, bison hunting etc when it's in range of -25 to -40C.

The coldest I ever saw was -48C (-54.4F) as a daytime high (before the windchill). It was about a degree colder overnight. It was glorious, and I hope to crack -52C so I will have seen a 100C temperature swing (it was once +48C in my hometown in Australia)

Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold

#104

Post by hnick »

Wildgoose wrote: post #75
LukeShu wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For any other confused Americans: "jumper" = "sweater"

I think "jumper" tends to be Northern English, I don't think it's used around London, (but I could be wrong). I believe our Viking cousins in Norway and Iceland use "jumper" as well. Incidentally, we also use the word "pullovers".

It's common in Australia too

Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold

#105

Post by hnick »

marinhero wrote: post #40
buserror wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You get used to that cold shock, I take a cold shower every day for many many years, and quite frankly I don't feel a "cold shock" anymore, even in winter. It's really just requires a bit of training to get less sensitive to cold; on the other hand I also have a tendency to get warm a lot quicker, which can be a bit annoying sometimes. I keep my house at 18C and no warmer, when many people I know want 21C or sometime…

What's the idea behind getting cold showers? why is it beneficial?

A physiotherapist suggested it to me and did it himself, and I think the claimed benefit was our modern demon "inflammation". I'm not qualified to judge but it would probably help for people with some kinds of joint/back pain.

Edit: Forgot I also heard about it promoting an energetic response in the body (starting your engine for heat) to wake up for the day ahead and start burning fat before your first meal. I heard Tony Robbins talk about an ice room or something similar in his house that he uses for that. Probably not ideal for night time showers.

Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold

#106

Post by blaze33 »

Nice article. Having some years of experience in outdoor activities (first sailing, then many solo week-long hikes in the mountains, mostly french Alps but also once in a caribbean tropical rainforest) I got to learn some vital lessons and guess I could share some of it.

Obviously everyone has its own level of resilience in the face of harsh conditions but once you're in, you have to deal with what you have. > “Clothing or equipment is the first line of defense, shelter is second and third is fire,” Preparation is key, for hiking I try to minimize my backpack weight while keeping gear for all kind of weather. During one summer hike with nice weather forecast for the week, I indeed had hot and sunny days but also rain, wind, cold temperatures and even a sudden snowstorm.

- Staying dry really matters, once wet you get cold much faster. - Sleep really matters. If you can't find a reasonable place or shelter to rest after an exhausting day, your ability to carry on the next day sharply decreases. Learned that on my caribbean trip where I got stuck above a waterfall one evening, was raining, got wet, cold, no place to lie down and rest and had to admit I wouldn't have the strength to climb back the next day. - When stuck or in a tough spot, remember that under stress you might not think as straight as you could. Do an inventory of your equipment. My first sleepless night in the rain I used my emergency blanket: such a mild protection, took me a day to realize a had a bigger tarp that proved much more useful as a protection against the elements. - A bright colored jacket helps rescue teams to locate you. (like a red / orange one) - Have a map of the terrain, learn to orient / situate yourself. Being lost is not the same as facing a difficult position, better not combine those issues ;) - Better have some way of communication and people aware of your whereabouts. - When cold, cover your head, you lose up to half your heat there. Extremities (hands, feet) get cold first, waterproof gloves and shoes can really help.

Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold

#107

Post by henrikschroder »

banku_brougham wrote: post #102
henrikschroder wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Things Americans do that completely baffle me: In a double bed, they have two pillows, but only one blanket, and end up having fights and struggles about the blanket. You've already solved the problem with the pillows. You don't fight over a shared pillow. Come on, you can figure out how to solve the problem with the blanket as well. "You can have two blankets in a double bed?" Yes. There you go. You're welcome.

>You've already solved the problem with the pillows. This phrase will help me remember a very important concept.

Right? That's what's so incredibly baffling about this thing. The solution to the problem is right in front of everyone's eyes. And most Americans have no idea how to solve the problem. They keep complaining about it, but they never solve it. It's even a common sitcom trope, ffs.

Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold

#108

Post by scarejunba »

dirtyid wrote: post #29

How much of this is just self-selection bias. Some body's are simply more adapted to the cold. I know people with passive metabolism of furnaces, my smart heater doesn't run as often when the my significant other sleeps over. I've seen steam vaporing off some folks who aren't even working that hard in cold gyms. Me, I sweat profusely when exerting myself, would definitely be one of the first to die in a winter milita…

When I read self-reported stories on the Internet about cold resistance, I remember that ~40% of people are obese. That's a confounding factor. At that amount of fatness, there's substantial insulation.

Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold

#109

Post by henrikschroder »

kaybe wrote: post #99
henrikschroder wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Things Americans do that completely baffle me: In a double bed, they have two pillows, but only one blanket, and end up having fights and struggles about the blanket. You've already solved the problem with the pillows. You don't fight over a shared pillow. Come on, you can figure out how to solve the problem with the blanket as well. "You can have two blankets in a double bed?" Yes. There you go. You're welcome.

There is no rule you can only have two though, just saying. More than one per person can be quite nice, especially in winter.

Whatever floats your boat, man. I have friends who prefer the opposite, they have two single beds pushed together, but a shared blanket. Whatever.

But the crazy thing is that every single goddamn store that sells bedding, will sell you solutions to your problem. It's not like you go to one store for single-person beds and their matching single-person bedding, and then a different store for double beds with matching double bedding. No, the same store that sells pillows and sheets and blankets sells them in different sizes and you can mix and match as you please.

Re: The human body’s remarkable ability to adapt to the cold

#110

Post by smegger001 »

henrikschroder wrote: post #87
batmansmk wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On that point, I wanted to share something you may relate to: my Filipino wife is always freezing in SF. I'm from Scandinavian descent, I could live as naked as a jaybird in the Bay Area weather. Where can't I find a blanket thick on the left, thin on the right? :)

Things Americans do that completely baffle me: In a double bed, they have two pillows, but only one blanket, and end up having fights and struggles about the blanket. You've already solved the problem with the pillows. You don't fight over a shared pillow. Come on, you can figure out how to solve the problem with the blanket as well. "You can have two blankets in a double bed?" Yes. There you go. You're welcome.

My wife and I figured that out right away, after about a week back and forth blanket stealing at night we just started keeping two sets of blankets in bed.
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