How do mammals survive the winter? What needs to happen within our body to be able to survive cold conditions? Let's explore.
When exposed to a cold environment, receptors in the skin sense the ambiant temperature, and the SCN (central clock) is no longer entrained to light once cold adaptation takes place. The cold shifts the metabolism to upregulate fatty acid oxidation, and downregulate glucose metabolism. Fatty acids as fuel provide more electrons to mitochondria, and the cold stimulates the uncoupling of proteins that allows fat to be burned off as pure heat (IR light). The primary objective for winter survival is a shift from ATP production to heat production in order to maintain core temperatures.
Why are so many people struggling with weight issues today? Because they do not go through this metabolic transition from glucose metabolism to fatty acid oxidation in winter because humans are the only mammals who can alter or control their environment. When we stay indoors in the winter time under artificial lighting and furnace heated homes all bundled up, we are essentially telling our body it is still summer time, and the glucose metabolism dominates. The problem with this is when mammals are in a chronic state of glucose metabolism in low light cycles in winter, free radical production is increased, thus leading to an inflammatory state, which further upregulates glucose metabolism, and burns out both the leptin receptor, and eventually the insulin receptor leading to type 2 diabetes.
The cold reverses both obesity, and type 2 diabetes by burning massive amounts of fat to generate heat.
What the cold does in a more quantum fashion is fascinating. The cold increases paramagnetism which means we can better absorb sun, and electron flow increases, allowing stronger currents to run our circuits. The cold also sensitizes every hormone receptor in the body to allow for greater binding affinity. This means your hormone levels might be lower in the winter time, but the effects are actually enhanced, making you become more fuel efficient. The cold also activates the sympathetic nervous system which modulates the inflammatory response of the immune system. Why do you think it's smart to ice an injury? Because it reduces inflammation, and the cooling of the surface allows for a more effective immune response.
Cooling your body's surfaces causes the intracellular water density to increase. When water is cooled, it expands (think ice). This increases the distance between respiratory proteins, and in order for efficient electron tunneling, the respiratory proteins must remain close. The cooling of body surfaces triggers a massive upregulation in fat burning in order to generate heat (as IR light) to bring the respiratory proteins closer together to improve electron tunneling.
The cure to obesity and type 2 diabetes is to simply allow this metabolic shift to occur. You can easily biohack this with cold water submersion (i.e. 30 minute cold baths a few times a week, or daily cold showers @ 50 F). This is known as Cold Thermogenesis. It takes the human body about 2 weeks to fully cold adapt, and once you are, you will notice some incredible advantages to your health and wellbeing.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15276821
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8248684
https://www.nih.gov/…/cool-temperature-alters-human-fat-met…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curie's_law
http://www.uregina.ca/…/brigham…/files/Klug_Brigham_2015.pdf
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