In workplace settings with identical temperatures, women often feel colder than men due to differences in body composition and hormones. This phenomenon, termed female thermal demand, arises from metabolic, physical, and hormonal factors. While both genders maintain the same body temperature, cold affects women more intensely.
Debates over office temperatures are frequent, and science provides insight into why women tend to feel colder. Research has pinpointed 'female thermal demand,' a mix of factors that impair women's ability to generate and retain heat compared to men.
Metabolically, women's slower metabolism means they burn fewer calories, producing less body heat overall. As a result, they require slightly warmer surroundings to maintain equilibrium.
Physically, variations are evident: women often have smaller frames and different fat distribution, with more adipose tissue that insulates but hinders heat transfer to the skin. They also have less subcutaneous fat in limbs, making hands and feet more susceptible to cold. Men's greater muscle mass, meanwhile, autonomously produces heat.
Hormonally, estrogens are pivotal, curbing muscle heat generation and directing blood flow toward the body's core while constricting peripheral vessels. This triggers cold signals to the brain, prompting layering, and accounts for cooler female extremities.
Certain conditions exacerbate this sensitivity across genders, including hypothyroidism, which lowers thyroid hormones and induces cold intolerance; anemia, featuring cold hands and fatigue; Raynaud's disease, causing arterial spasms in fingers; and low blood pressure, often with dizziness.