Healthy ways to keep warm

Eat well, wear many layers of clothes, don't shiver, don't drink alcohol... are ways you can keep warm when winter comes.

To stay comfortable in cold weather, you need to know how to keep warm based on understanding the scientific basis of heat transfer. Loren Greenway, Director of the Wilderness Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah (USA), said that to keep warm, you need to understand two important principles: thermal conductivity and thermal convection.

Thermal conduction is the transfer of heat between two hard surfaces that are in direct contact with each other, such as when you stand on an icy road.

Convection is the transfer of heat between a mass (such as your body) and a moving fluid or gas, such as a cold wind blowing across your skin. Understanding these two mechanisms will help you effectively regulate your body temperature, keeping you warm and safe during harsh winter weather.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

Dress in layers

You lose heat through conduction whenever your body comes into direct contact with something cold, such as when you sit on a cold floor. Wind also causes you to lose heat in this way. But you can keep your body from losing heat from both by wearing layers of clothing.

Base layers—long, thick underwear and wool socks—help you avoid losing heat through conduction. Your outer layer should be windproof and waterproof but breathable, to protect you from losing heat through air and water. “Anything that can be put on top of your body to cover your body will help keep you from getting cold,” says Dr. Greenway.

Illustration: Richmondaid.org.uk

Don't tremble

Shivering is a sure sign that you are too cold and need to get to a warmer place. When your skin temperature drops, shivering helps keep your body temperature from dropping. The contraction, tightening, and loosening of muscles expends energy and generates heat to replace the heat your body loses through conduction or convection. But this also means that when you start shivering, your brain is telling your body that it is time to get to a warmer place.

So shivering is helpful when you’re mildly hypothermic, but it’s useless if you’re moderately hypothermic. The body stops shivering when muscle contractions no longer produce any heat. That means that as you get colder, shivering stops, so your body temperature drops even faster.

Eat well, drink enough

Eating well – that is, consuming more energy than you burn – will help your body cope better with the cold. This is important, to keep your blood sugar levels up to provide the energy needed to stay warm in the cold.

Drinking enough water is also important. Your body will withstand the cold better if it is supplied with a balanced diet and water.

Get used to the cold

You can learn to adapt to cold weather. People who spend a lot of time outdoors and exposed to cold actually develop a tolerance for, and a proactive response to, cold weather.

The mechanism behind this is not yet fully understood, but a type of body fat called brown fat may play a key role, according to researchers. Unlike the body's regular white fat, which stores extra calories, brown fat actually burns calories and releases energy as heat.

Human and animal studies have shown that cold acclimatization increases the heat-producing capacity of brown fat. Some studies have also shown that exposure to cold actually increases the amount of brown fat in the body.

Maintaining a healthy body weight also helps people cope with the cold. Being too thin can be a disadvantage in winter because body fat helps keep you warm.

Always be prepared

Pay attention to weather forecasts and always have enough food and cold weather gear (warm blankets, dry clothes, shoes, socks, scarves, etc.). According to the US National Weather Service, 25% of weather-related disasters occur when people are unprepared for severe weather.

Know your risks

Using drugs to treat high blood pressure, prostatitis, heart failure, vasodilators... can make you more sensitive to cold weather as well as some diseases such as hypothyroidism. Age also affects the body's ability to withstand cold. Children under 2 years old have not yet developed the ability to regulate to increase body temperature and people over 60 years old also have reduced ability to generate heat. Know these cases to be more prepared.

Don't drink alcohol

People often think that a hot glass of strong alcohol can help keep you warm in cold weather, but that is not true. It is true that warm drinks do raise your body temperature and help you fight the cold, but alcohol is not one of them. Alcohol does absolutely nothing good if you drink it cold. It will lower your body temperature.

Soak feet in hot water

There is a symmetrical relationship between the feet and the organs in the body. Massaging any reflex zone on the feet can stimulate blood circulation, balance internal secretions, and promote the health function of a corresponding part of the body. Soaking feet in hot water is still known as a method of "benefiting the inside and the outside": it helps you restore vitality in winter, relieve heatstroke in summer, help with bowel movements in autumn, and warm the body in winter. As you know, there are many acupuncture points and blood vessels under the soles of the feet. Soaking feet in hot water will help blood circulation, keep the body healthy, and warm the body in winter.

Ginger rock sugar water

Rock sugar not only increases appetite, but also warms the body. Ginger also contains gingerol which has a stimulating effect on the heart and blood vessels, can speed up blood circulation, and increase the feeling of warmth in the body. Caffeine in tea flowers has a diuretic effect, and the red pigment in it has a warming effect on the body. Grind a small piece of ginger into powder, add it to a cup of tea and stir well. Depending on each person's taste, increase or decrease the amount of ginger as well as the amount of rock sugar accordingly.

Do exercise

Exercise not only helps you have good health and a desirable body shape, but also helps you feel warmer. When you exercise, your body will create heat, helping your body feel warmer.

Walking can be said to be the most natural and simplest form of exercise in winter. When walking, you must take long strides combined with strong arm swings. Do not underestimate this simple movement, because it increases the amount of exercise many times over. Every day you only need to walk about 20 minutes. Persistently walk fast, take long strides, then even though it is winter, you can still wear skirts to show off your beautiful legs without fear of cold.

Practicing yoga is also an effective way to keep your body warm: Yoga has many different types of exercises, including winter yoga, specifically for warming up the body. Spending a little time practicing each day will help you not to worry about shivering anymore. According to some experts, practicing yoga is also beneficial for treating gynecological diseases. You should practice yoga 2 hours after eating. Before practicing, you must warm up your joints and neck thoroughly; after practicing, rest for about 30 minutes before eating.

Good night

In winter, we should go to bed early and wake up late. Health experts advise us to go to bed at 10 pm and wake up when the sun is high in the sky, so that we can avoid the cold in the morning and reduce the temperature difference. Women who have to work late at night should try not to stay up all night. At 1 am, the secretion of adrenal hormones in the human body is at its lowest. At this time, the resistance is especially weak and cannot maintain the skin. If you often do not rest well, the body will not have enough strength to withstand the pressure of the cold from the outside. On extremely cold days, hug a hot compress and go to bed early!

According to VNE