The Real Reason Women Are Always Colder Than Men

Gather a bunch of women together, give them a bottle of wine to share, and you're likely to get some lighthearted venting about the men in their lives. Leaving the toilet seat up is going to be one complaint, and there's a good chance someone will bring up their evil mother-in-law, but you can bet your favorite, thickest, fluffiest sweater that battles over the thermostat are a major point of contention among nearly everyone in the room. That's because women are generally colder than men, and the hub's insistence on keeping the temperature at an arctic below 70 degrees is grounds for... well, a second glass of wine!

Indeed, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that women's body temperatures are consistently higher than men's, which means that colder air feels cooler to a woman's body than to a man's. Meanwhile, the extremities on a woman's body — think hands and feet — are actually several degrees cooler than men's extremities, an article in The Lancet concluded. This is because estrogen reduces blood flow to your hands and feet (per ZME Science).

Another irritating thing about living with a man might be how much more quickly he will lose weight if you both decide you want to go on a diet. The reason for this is that men have faster metabolisms than women — and because their bodies are burning at a higher rate, they tend to feel warmer than women. Indeed, research published in the Journal of Applied Psychology determined that men's resting metabolic rate is 23 percent higher than the rate of women. Having a slower metabolism means that your blood circulation is slower, too (per Mayo Clinic). This is yet another reason why you're shivering!

Our ratio of muscle to fat is also related to our sensitivity to cold, and indeed, males have more muscle and less fat than their female counterparts because of the hormone testosterone (via WebMD). Having more muscles means, quite simply, that you'll feel warmer and won't even need to shiver when it's cold outside as much as someone who has lower muscle mass (per New Scientist). Chivalry may be dead, but clearly, if it's cold outside, your male companion should drape his jacket over your shoulders — and maybe you two can at least reach a compromise on that thermostat!