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The Benefits of Being Cold

theatlantic.com

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Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#151

Post by mitchty »

sanoli wrote: post #127
colund wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in Sweden where -C is very common at winters. -25-30 is considered very cold even by us though. Nasal mucus freezes and skin "bites".

What? I didn't that your nasal mucus froze. I thought your body temp would keep it from freezing. How does it feel? Is it a beginning sign of frostbite?

I grew up in rural North Dakota, here's what happens. You walk outside and inhale, and your boogers will immediately freeze in your nose. It feels.... odd, I've no way to explain it properly, it honestly is something one has to experience. The general rule is below about -10C or thereabout you blow your nose before going outside. That or you're going to wait for it to thaw and then blowing your nose.

Doesn't have anything to do with frostbite that I'm aware of.

When its that cold for shits I would take a full cup of boiling/hot water and throw it in the air. Making snow is fun.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#152

Post by pmahoney »

saraid216 wrote: post #76
udalov wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you please elaborate on running being damaging?

It messes with your knees and heel. When you take a step during a run, your leg lands with your entire body slamming into it. There are ways to run that are less damaging (better equipment, like socks and shoes, or using the technique where you largely only make contact using the balls of your feet), but it doesn't change the fact of a shock happening. That said, it's unlikely to be so damaging to you as to outweigh…

> There are ways to run that are less damaging

I looked into this quite a bit some years ago and found no research to suggest more cushioned shoes, less cushioned shoes, pronation-control shoes, barefoot running, etc. have any effect on injury rates. Are there recent studies or info that I missed on this topic?

> it's unlikely to be so damaging to you as to outweigh its benefits

It's even possible that all the shock and load bearing of running /is/ a benefit.

Running is associated with acute injuries of all sorts, but as others have commented does not correlate with osteoarthritis or other long term injuries.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#153

Post by termain »

lambda wrote: post #42
r_singh wrote: post #41

After reading this article, I thought of gifting Dr. Wayne Hayes' ice vest to a friend. I googled Hayes and I found his website: http://coldshoulderweightloss.com . I found his website shockingly bad. I wonder how anyone could buy a personal care product from a website that looks like that. It's surprising how web presence can still be taken for granted. Especially when their website is a point of sale for their prod…

Wait, a magical new weight-loss scheme based on some seemingly counterintuitive yet simple principal might be a scam? What a shock! Why this junk is on the top of the HN front page I don't know.

Perhaps because it's not counterintuitive? Staying warm in a cold environment must require the consumption of energy.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#154

Post by pmahoney »

Retric wrote: post #140
rossriley wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's actually an often repeated myth that running is bad for your joints/knees etc[1]. General medical consensus is that moderate running is an indicator for better joint health. [1] http://www.npr.org/2011/03/28/134861448/put-those-shoes-on-r...

"There are caveats, though, especially for people who have suffered significant knee injury or are overweight." Sure, in moderation it's a small net gain, but few are the correct weight, without injury, and run in moderation. Note: Simply being tall can have the same effect as being overweight and shorter. The knee supports 3d volume on a 2d surface so it has scaling issues. There is a significant peak load differenc…

This seems like a decent review:

http://www.jaoa.osteopathic.org/content/106/6/342.full

"Is there a causal relationship between running and osteoarthritis? The current data are based on small studies, and their results are often unclear."

I've previously come across the cited studies by Lane, "at 9-year follow-up, the results were the same; there was no difference in the incidence and progression of knee and hip osteoarthritis in runners and nonrunners", but had not seen Sohn's comparison of college varsity runners and swimmers, "There is no association between moderate longdistance running and the future development of osteoarthritis. Furthermore, the evidence suggests that neither heavy mileage nor the number of years running are contributory to the future development of osteoarthritis."

On the other hand, Schmitt et al found that "Osteoarthritis of the knee joint is rare in former elite marathon runners. The risk of osteoarthritis of the hip joint seems to be higher than in control subjects who do not engage in much sport."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16932832

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#155

Post by DennisP »

thisisdave wrote: post #5

>Seven million years of human evolution were dominated by two challenges: food scarcity and cold. Almost all of that time was spent in Africa. Even during glacial periods, was it ever icy? I don't know much about the paleoclimate, so I'm not sure.

If it's raining it's possible to get hypothermia at 50 degrees F.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#156

Post by Retric »

pmahoney wrote: post #154
Retric wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"There are caveats, though, especially for people who have suffered significant knee injury or are overweight." Sure, in moderation it's a small net gain, but few are the correct weight, without injury, and run in moderation. Note: Simply being tall can have the same effect as being overweight and shorter. The knee supports 3d volume on a 2d surface so it has scaling issues. There is a significant peak load differenc…

This seems like a decent review: http://www.jaoa.osteopathic.org/content/106/6/342.full "Is there a causal relationship between running and osteoarthritis? The current data are based on small studies, and their results are often unclear." I've previously come across the cited studies by Lane, "at 9-year follow-up, the results were the same; there was no difference in the incidence and progression of knee and hip oste…

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2667877/

"The current evidence in persons who participate in elite sports activity, particularly in sporting groups susceptible to joint injury, suggests that these groups are at increased risk for OA as a result of their participation, but it is unclear whether participation in the absence of injury is harmful. "

Weight and other health issues are a massive and hard to control for Confounding variable in most of these studies. Osteoarthritis causes (weight, injury, bone misalignments etc.) are also likely to inhibit running. At the same time running increases the risk of injury.

Note: Most of these studies are also talking about jogging not running as running is shown to cause damage.

However, from your link "Researchers22 found a significantly higher incidence of osteoarthritis in men (aged 20–49 years) who were involved in high levels of physical activity (ie, walking or running more than 20 miles per week). "

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#157

Post by pooriaazimi »

buro9 wrote: post #148
mercer wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any chance you'd be interested in writing up in more detail what your experiences were like? Or maybe you did so already?

I'm not sure I can write it up. I was someone back then that I didn't like, I'm glad I moved on but if I did a comprehensive job of putting it in words I'd have to re-live that time again, and who I was. Hate to go all Bladerunner, but I've seen things, done things, that I no longer want the memory of. Putting it into words would give it life again.

You're most likely familiar with Orwell's "Down and Out in Paris and London" and "The Road to Wigan Pier", two of the finest books ever written.

The first is his "vivid and moving account of life below poverty line", first in Paris, when he, after resigning being a servant of the Empire as a police officer in Burma, had to resort to low-wage, hard, menial 17-hour works in Paris restaurants, and later when he lived as a "tramp" in London, going from spike to spike, meeting others like him.

I don't know if you'd "enjoy" these books though... But they are unrivaled in their shrewdness and, well, it is Orwell and he can write better than anyone.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#158

Post by eropple »

eru wrote: post #87
eropple wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're projecting with this. I find 60 degrees F (around 16 degrees C) comfortable and I'm happy and productive working at that temperature. Getting up past 21 or 22 degrees C and I start hating life.

Do you sit or stand (or lie down or walk etc) to work?

Standing, mostly. I used to have a stand-up desk, now I just use my bar-height dining table.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#159

Post by lojack »

buro9 wrote: post #106
tmmm wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always wondered how homeless people deal with cold when I saw them during winter. It's amazing what our bodies can do.

In the most extreme conditions I used to visit building sites as the site offices tended to remain unlocked (there's nothing in there to steal) and they were unattended from 7pm through 5am. They also tended to have a kettle and some enamel cups... usually all dirty at the end of a day but with boiling water to hand that isn't an issue. One can sleep there and actually feel really safe and secure, not just from the h…

> Actually, another thing. Wisdom says to layer, but if you're not actually mobile much overnight I always found fewer thicker layers to be better. i.e. a thick cable-knit jumper trumped multiple thinner layers. I suspect layers are really the solution for highly active people such as skiers, runners and so on, but if you're immobile in the cold a thick jumper helps more.

It's a matter of managing the sweat. In the winter you want to be warm up until you start sweating. Sweat in the winter freezes and makes you more cold. Layers help wick away sweat, and are easier to adjust so you don't get too hot. So, yeah, layers are much more important when being active.

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