Health & Life

Useful winter body warming tips to know

This year's winter arrives earlier and brings much colder temperatures than usual due to the influence of the La Nina weather pattern. To keep your body warm, here are 16 steps you can follow:

Administrator

7 January, 2024

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Please pay attention to the weather forecast and always stock up on enough food and supplies to cope with the cold (warm blankets, dry clothes, shoes, socks, scarves, etc.). According to the US National Weather Service, 25% of weather-related emergencies occur when people are not prepared for severe weather.

2. Layer up

Dr. Greenway says, “Anything that can be wrapped around the body to cover it will help protect you from the cold.” You lose heat through conduction whenever your body comes into direct contact with something cold, like sitting on a cold surface. Wind also causes heat loss in this way. But you can prevent your body from losing heat through both these factors by wearing multiple layers of clothing.

The base layer – long and thick underwear, wool socks – help to prevent heat loss through conduction. The outer layer should be windproof and waterproof but still breathable, to protect you from heat loss through air and water.

3. Don’t shiver

Shivering is a sign that you are too cold and need to find a warmer place. When your skin temperature drops, shivering helps to maintain your body temperature. The muscle contractions and relaxations involved in shivering consume energy and generate heat to compensate for the temperature that your body loses through conduction or convection. But this also means that when you start shivering, your brain signals your body that it’s time to find a warmer place.

So, shivering can be helpful when you have mild hypothermia, but it won’t be effective if your body temperature drops too much, below the average level. Your body will naturally stop shivering when the muscle contractions no longer generate heat. That means when you’re colder, shivering actually stops because your body temperature drops quicker afterwards.

4. Eat well, stay hydrated

Make sure you eat enough – meaning consuming more energy than you burn – to help your body cope with the cold. This is important for maintaining a sufficient blood glucose level to supply energy for keeping warm in cold weather.

Drinking enough water is also important. Your body will better withstand the cold if it’s well-nourished and adequately hydrated.

5. Seal off your space to keep warm

In wintertime, you should keep your living space warm by sealing off doors and windows tightly to block drafts and maintain warmth. This is common knowledge, and you understand the purpose of sealing off your space to keep it warm.

Also, keep the room temperature in your house at a moderate level – not too hot or cold – to avoid feeling colder when you step outside.

6. Aromatherapy massage

If you want to turn warming your body into a relaxing experience, you can visit a spa and try an aromatherapy massage that warms your skin. Massage helps stimulate blood circulation and metabolism, relieve muscle and joint tension.

7. Hot foot bath

There is a symmetrical relationship between the feet and the organs in the body, so massaging any reflex zone on the feet can stimulate blood circulation, balance endocrine function, and improve health for a corresponding body part. Soaking your feet in hot water is known as a beneficial method both internally and externally: it helps you recover quickly from the winter chills, relieve summer heat fatigue, improve bowel movements in autumn, and warm up your body in winter. As you may know, there are many acupuncture points and blood vessels on the soles of your feet. Soaking your feet in hot water helps improve blood circulation, keep your body healthy, and warm up your body in winter.

8. Ginger and rock sugar tea

Rock sugar not only enhances the flavor of the tea but also helps to warm your body. Ginger contains gingerol, which has a stimulating effect on the heart and blood vessels and can increase blood circulation. The caffeine in black tea has a diuretic effect, and the red pigment in it helps warm the body. Grind a small piece of ginger into powder and mix it into a cup of tea. Adjust the amount of ginger and rock sugar to your taste.

9. Avoid alcohol

Many people think that a hot alcoholic drink can keep them warm in freezing weather, but that’s not true. While warm drinks do increase body temperature and help you cope with the cold, alcohol is not one of them. Alcohol actually has no beneficial effect if you drink it in cold weather. It will lower your body temperature.

10. Use a heating pad

Using a heating pad is an effective way to keep warm in winter. You don’t have to spend too much on heating appliances or worry about high electricity bills. You can use a heating pad to warm up your bed before going to sleep. However, don’t rely too much on it because excessive use is not good.

11. Exercise

Exercise not only helps you stay healthy and achieve your desired body shape but also makes you feel warmer. When you exercise, your body generates heat, making you feel warmer.

Walking can be considered the most natural and simplest outdoor activity in winter. When you walk, you take long strides and swing your arms vigorously. Don’t underestimate this simple movement, as it increases physical activity many times over. All you need to do is walk for about 20 minutes a day. Walk briskly, take long steps, and despite the winter weather, you can still show off your beautiful legs without feeling cold.
Yoga is also an effective way to keep your body warm: Yoga offers various forms of exercise, including specific winter yoga exercises designed to keep you warm. Spend some time every day practicing yoga to avoid feeling freezing. According to some experts, practicing yoga is also beneficial for gynecological diseases. You should practice yoga 2 hours after a meal. Warm up your joints and neck properly before starting your yoga routine; take a break for about 30 minutes after finishing and you can eat.

12. Acupressure

In fact, finding acupressure points is not as difficult as we think, and there are times when you can find them easily, for example, the reflex point located between your thumb and index finger. Just use the index finger of one hand to find the reflex point on the other hand.

Try pressing on it, do you feel a tingling sensation? If you do, that’s the right spot. When you feel cold, take turns pressing the reflex point between your hands to enhance blood circulation throughout your body.

13. Know your vulnerabilities

Using medications for treating high blood pressure, prostatic inflammation, heart failure, dilation of blood vessels, etc., can make you more sensitive to cold weather as well as some conditions like hypothyroidism. Age also affects your ability to withstand the cold. Children under 2 years old haven’t yet developed the ability to adjust their body temperature and people over 60 have decreased thermoregulatory abilities. Be aware of these situations to prepare better.

14. Manage stress

According to scientific reports, psychological stress like family and work-related stress can reduce blood circulation in women. When you argue over something, your body releases two stress hormones: adrenaline and cortisol, which cause blood vessels to constrict and disrupt smooth blood circulation.

You may have experienced this in previous winters – when you feel cold, it feels even colder. This is actually the effect of psychological suggestion. So if you want to be a warm person in winter, the most important thing is to overcome the psychological fear of the cold.

15. Embrace the cold

You can learn to adapt to cold weather. People who spend more time outdoors and have frequent exposure to the cold are more tolerant and responsive to freezing temperatures.

Scientists have yet to fully explain the mechanisms behind this, but a special type of body fat called brown fat may play a role. Unlike white fat, which stores extra calories in your body, brown fat actually burns calories and releases energy in the form of heat.

Infants and hibernating animals have more brown fat. Studies in animals and humans have shown that the ability to adapt to cold weather increased the thermogenic capacity of brown fat. Some studies have also shown that exposure to the cold can increase the amount of brown fat in your body.

Maintaining a balanced body weight also helps you better withstand the cold. Being underweight can be a disadvantage in winter because body fat helps keep you warm.

16. Get a good night’s sleep

In winter, it’s best to sleep early and wake up late. Health experts recommend going to bed at 10 PM and getting up when the sun is high to avoid the cold in the early morning and minimize temperature differences. If you work night shifts, try not to stay up all night. At 1 AM, the secretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone in the human body is lowest. At this time, immune function is particularly weak and unable to maintain healthy skin. If you don’t get enough rest regularly, your body will not have the strength to resist external cold pressure. In extremely cold weather, hug a hot water bottle to bed and go to sleep early!

Note:

Pay attention to keep warm in areas that are prone to cold, such as the neck, ears, nose, hands, feet, back, etc. When going outside, wear wind-resistant coats and face masks.
Eat a well-balanced diet. Avoid eating too much at night because it can overload your digestive system and make it less active.
Foods to avoid: Bread made from white flour, french fries, carbonated drinks, frozen milk, iced coffee, pickles, alcohol, consuming too much butter or drinking cold water after meals are not recommended in cold weather.
Avoid drinking alcohol when going outside in cold weather to avoid stroke.
Avoid eating refrigerated food or food that has just been taken out of the refrigerator because it can make your body cold.
Maintain regular physical exercise to keep your body warm, healthier, and better able to resist diseases.
Absolutely do not burn charcoal, wasp nests, or leaves in enclosed spaces for heating as there have been cases of coma and brain damage.
Avoid bathing at night, taking too long to shower, or showering in places with gusty winds, etc.

Keeping your body warm in the winter is important and not difficult to do. These are extremely effective ways to keep your body warm in winter that you should follow to make your body warm and avoid getting sick with a cold!