It’s an all too familiar story.
You’re headed to the office on a hot summer day, rocking your favorite summery outfit.
You walk into the room feeling comfortable, confident, and ready to take on the day.
Five minutes later and you find yourself sitting in your chair shivering. The A/C is on full blast and you have no control over the thermostat.
It’s not long before you regret the choice of wearing your summery look to the office. You realize you need to have your cardigan, blanket, and space heater handy if you plan to be comfortable that day.
Thermal wellness and women
Women all over the world report feeling excessive levels of coldness in many situations. One place this often happens is in the office.
A study done by the Scientific Report shows women are largely more uncomfortable in the office due to overcooling, than men. (1)
Thermal wellness impacts all of us in different aspects of our lives. Whether you’re in the office, at the store, or just experiencing coldness due to chronic conditions—temperature impacts your wellbeing in different ways.
Many people are calling thermal wellness the next big metric when it comes to discussing overall wellness. And this doesn’t come as a surprise.
Thermal wellness spas and temperature therapy have been used for decades as a way to alleviate stress, anxiety, and other ailments.
Just think about stepping into a sauna at the gym to relax your sore muscles. When effectively used, thermal wellness has the power to help you show up as the best version of yourself.
Learning how to properly regulate your body temperature, can help you improve your overall wellness.
How does thermal wellness impact women?
Approximately 74 million women have chronic conditions that cause them to feel cold.
Some of these conditions include:
Anemia
Hypothyroidism
Raynaud’s Disease
Diabetes
Side effects from cancer treatment and surgery
Poor circulation (2)
Oftentimes, we dismiss being cold as something we have to live with. It just becomes a part of our daily life and we learn to pack all our layers when headed to the office.
But when you stop and look at how coldness actually impacts your overall well being, you’ll probably think twice.
Studies show that on average, women feel colder than men due to a variety of physiological, hormonal, and psychological reasons. (3)
Women generally have a much stronger response to cold stimuli than men do. This means women’s blood flow shuts off sooner, tighter, and longer than men when they’re cold.
The implications of being excessively cold can be seen throughout your body.
Research indicates that when you’re excessively cold, your cognitive function and productivity levels actually decrease. (4)
The benefits of feeling warm
Over the years, research has indicated a correlation between temperature, mood, and behavior.
Studies show the warmer you are, the more likely you are to practice generous behavior. When participants were exposed to warmth from heating pads, they were more likely to choose gifts for other people over themselves. (5)
This same study also showed that those suffering from chronic loneliness were more likely to take a hot bath or shower. Physical warmth is shown to present an increased sense of comfort and belonging.
So what can you do to stay warm?
The sad reality is the temperature of offices and other public spaces will likely not ever adjust temperature to reflect female thermal wellness.
But we have some ideas that will help you maintain warmness.
Here are some of our top tips to try when you want to stay warm:
Keep your head covered
Not only is a hat fashionable, but it’s a great way to help you stay warm. The blood vessels found in our head are very close to the skin's surface, causing them to lose heat quickly. Keeping your head covered will help you feel cozy on those days where you feel extra cold.
Eat foods that promote thermogenesis
Thermogenesis is the process of heat generation as a result of metabolism. (6) If your diet allows you to eat foods high in healthy fats, proteins, and carbohydrates—you’re helping promote thermogenesis.
Food and drinks such as bananas, ginger tea, oats, coffee, red meat, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash, can all help you raise your body temperature and keep warm.
Be sure to speak to your physician, to find out what diet changes you can make to help you maintain warmth.
Stay active
Many find their hands and feet are very cold. This is often due to circulatory or hormonal issues in the body. A simple way to help prevent this, is staying active.
Try sticking to a simple routine of taking a daily walk. Make it a habit to take the stairs rather than the elevator. Getting some movement in, or even just massaging your hands/feet everyday, helps promote circulation and helps your body maintain heat.
Drink enough water
It can be so easy to forget to drink enough water—especially in the winter time. But water is critical to having your body function at its best, and regulate its internal temperature. When you’re dehydrated, your body’s core temperature drops.
Be sure to keep a water bottle handy to serve as a daily reminder to drink enough water everyday.
Try using warmers (like Brilliantly Warm)
Lugging around a space heater, electric blanket, hot water bottle or bulky sweater gets old very fast.
That’s why we designed Brilliantly Warm. Brilliantly Warm is a discreet wearable warmer that helps you feel comfy and cozy, without all the bulky layers. It’s designed to easily slip into your bra, so you can ditch the (probably against office policy) space heater or bulky sweater you keep at your desk.
Products like this one are an easy and discreet way for you to feel warm throughout the day.
Learning to regulate your body temperature will help you show up as the best version of yourself in your daily life.
What are some tips and tricks that you use to stay warm? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.
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