Today, after scarfing my lunch, a snack, and two trips to the vending machine my sister unknowingly asked me if I notice myself eating more now that it’s winter than I do in the summer. The answer is why yes, yes I am!
And there is good metabolic reasons for this increased eating, right? It’s related to our hominid origins; “feeling cold triggers a self-preservation mode that sends the body a message to heat up fast” says Kristin Herlocker MS, RD, a nutrition expert with Diabetes Centers of America in Houston. And because our bodies are being asked to produce more heat we need to eat more food to fuel the fires!
In addition to requesting that the body make more heat, cold weather causes the body to constrict skin pores and connective tissues in an effort to preserve what heat already exists. This heat is directed away from periphery tissues in favor of the body’s core, i.e. where all your organs, save for the brain, live.
So it’s cold outside, our body is focusing the heat we are making to our core, and now it asks the stomach to find more fuel to continue producing heat. Who are we to deny our bodies this?!
Nom, noms
