Many types of memes start being made in winter regarding cold. Especially the stories related to bathing or not bathing in winter are widely heard and narrated from social media to friends and family members.
Someone says, “One should never give up trying in life. I have been trying to take a bath for 15 days but am not able to take a bath. Still this effort continues.”
Some people try to justify their habit of not bathing in winter by linking ‘bathing’ with wastage of water, while others make other excuses like lack of time or not.
In this story we will try to know why it happens that some people living in the same family or the same area feel more cold while others feel less?
If we talk about cities like Delhi or Patna, then in winter a person coming from Uttarakhand or Himachal will not feel as cold as a person coming from Kerala or Tamil Nadu.
The reason for this is also clear, the kind of climate in which people live and grow up since childhood, their body and habits also become according to that climate.
But many times in winter we see that among people belonging to the same family or same place, some people are shivering from cold, while some look normal.
Which people can feel more cold?
Among such people, what is the biggest reason behind why some people feel very cold and some do not?
Sanjay Rai, Professor, Department of Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, AIIMS, says, “The structure of every person is different. Therefore, some may feel more cold and some may feel less. And how your body reacts to cold depends on how you have developed yourself.”
“The way you prepare your body, the behavior of the body will also be the same. This is the basic reason behind why someone feels more or less cold.”
Sanjay Rai says, “Earlier, when there were no geysers, we used to take bath with normal water even in winter. Then when the body got used to the geyser, we take bath with geyser water in winter. It is possible that our children may have developed a different habit, so they will take bath with geyser water even after the winter is very cold.”
We also see this habit among the people around us or in the family, among whom some people take bath with normal water even in winter, while some people need hot water for bath.
There are many people who are seen avoiding bathing when it is very cold.
Mohsin Wali, a senior doctor at Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, says, “What is the matter that you are feeling more cold than others. If someone says this then it is usually a matter related to laziness and mind.”
According to Dr. Wali, thyroid patients, very thin people, diabetes patients or those taking medicines like Beta Locker to keep BP under control may feel more cold.
He says, “Apart from these, if a healthy person says that he feels very cold, it means that the heat production of his body is less.”
the body prepares itself
Heat production means how much heat your body is producing. It depends on things like exercise, work, amount of fat in the body.
If among two healthy brothers, one is feeling more cold then according to experts the heat production of his body is less which is basically due to less physical activity.
Dr. Sanjay Rai says, “If someone has consumed rotten or poisonous food, he will start vomiting himself, because the body wants to throw it out of the stomach. If someone feels something strange in his nose, he starts sneezing, because the nose wants to throw it out.”
Sanjay Rai says, “The body prepares itself for every kind of environment. If it is too cold, the body also keeps preparing itself to fight it. And how your body will be prepared depends on your habits.”
These are also the reasons
Some people take bath more than once during summer and this becomes part of their habit.
Similarly, some people avoid bathing in winter, while others consider it as bathing by merely washing their hands and feet or wetting their hair.
Professor Amitav Banerjee of DY Patil Medical College, Pune says, “The feeling of extreme cold in such people depends on many things. For example, the temperature of the place, how you are wearing clothes, how much water you drink, because water regulates body temperature and how physically active you are.”
He says, “The biggest reason behind different people of the same area feeling more or less cold is their habits, but everyone’s body functions all the time and every body is different, so different people may feel more or less cold.”
He says, “The one who has less thyroid hormone in his body may feel more cold than others. Similarly, the one who has more fat in his body may feel less cold.”
Amitav Banerjee says, “The elderly of 70-80 years cannot do much physical exertion, that is, if their physical activity reduces, then such people feel more cold.”
Apart from this, feeling cold also depends on the body-mass index and the body’s own metabolic rate. People with more muscles may feel less cold.
Not only this, the kind of clothes you are wearing also tells how cold you will feel. Whatever part of the body remains open, like palms, feet, head, your body temperature will come out from them, due to which you may feel more cold.
Apart from this, some people reduce their physical activity in winter, some people stay inside the quilt for a long time, this keeps their body warm but their habit of tolerating cold changes.
Therefore, if you are healthy but you have also developed such a habit, then in winter you will also spill water on the bathroom floor, so that people outside think that you are taking a bath.
According to doctors, the best way to avoid this is to change your habits.