Why do women get colder than men? Science has the answer

Whether in the office, at home or elsewhere, it’s common for women to say that they feel cold. In fact, it’s a commonly-held belief that women run colder than men. But is it true?

Yes — and several studies have found the biological factors that cause women to be colder than men.

Metabolism, blood flow and menopause

According to The Guardian, both men and women have roughly the same body core temperature of 98.6°F; but when we determine if we’re cold or not we use skin temperature instead.

In women, the hormone estrogen stops blood flow to the fingers and toes when the skin is in contact with cold, per The Guardian. This is likely why it seems women have colder hands than men.

According to Boris Kingma, a thermophysiologist in the Netherlands, women “are smaller, meaning they have a relatively higher skin surface-to-volume ratio, causing them to lose heat faster,” per The Washington Post.

Menstrual cycles also impact women’s body temperature. The Guardian reports that research has shown that women will feel colder than usual when they hit the ovulation stage of their menstrual cycle.

But when women hit menopause, there can be a change in the core body temperature.

Jewel Kling at the Mayo Clinic told The Washington Post, “Core body temperature may change during perimenopause and postmenopause. Declines in estrogen can contribute to hot flashes, night sweats and temperature sensitivity.”

Women are also known to have a lower metabolism rate than men. Kingma told The Washington Post that women “have less heat-generating muscle tissue and a lower metabolic rate, the heat-inducing process in which their bodies burn calories for energy.”

The lower metabolism means women do not produce as much heat as men, per The Guardian. Considering that women have smaller bodies and slower metabolism rates, Kingma said, “The body of smaller people typically has to respond faster to defend itself against cold.”

Cold temperatures impact women’s work performance

According to a 2019 study, when women perform math or verbal related tasks in a room with higher temperatures, they perform better than compared to men in the same setting.

The researchers also found that while women performed better in warmer temperatures, men also performed better in colder temperatures. They suggest that in work environments where there is a balance of male to female workers, room temperatures should be set higher than normal in order to achieve the most productivity.