Edit: as the comments said, I used the incorrect word. What I mean is “tolerance”

  • jet@hackertalks.com
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    1 year ago

    Immunity is a strong word.

    You can acclimate to different environments and temperatures. Brown fat tissue can be increased when exposed to cold temperatures over a long period of time, in a form of adaptation. This type of fat helps produce heat, keeping you warmer.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_adipose_tissue

    There is truth to the jokes of Minnesotans wearing shorts on the same day Floridian’s would wear winter clothes.

    • Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Just backing up all of this. I’m from PA and I remember one year we spent Christmas in Tampa. First time I could wear shorts outside on Christmas, while everyone else was sporting pants and at least a hoodie, if not a coat.

      Just thought I should add that this was in the 90s, climate change my effect your results.

      • kava@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I grew up in a northern state and used to pride myself as a teen that I could wear a t shirt in the snow or be wearing a hoodie at the busstop while others had winter coats.

        After a some years in Southern Florida a slight breeze bringing it to 70 degrees gets me into a sweater lol

        The body really acclimates. It used to be so hot the first summer and nowadays it’s not a big deal. But actually this summer has been unusually hot, however that seems a bit anomalous.

      • shadowSprite@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I’m also from PA and moved to a southern state. It’s fun when it’s 60 degrees out and everyone is walking around in winter jackets and scarves and I’m in a t-shirt literally dripping sweat. My first winter it was 55 out and someone said “I can’t wait for spring to come, I’m so sick of the cold.” I just looked at them and said “uh… where I come from, this is spring.”

    • Dandroid@dandroid.app
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      1 year ago

      A couple of years ago for Christmas I left my 80°F December to visit my in laws where the highs were 30°F. I had absolutely no resistance, and it was miserable. They kept their house cold because they were acclimated. I was shivering in my jacket next to the fire the whole trip.

  • FartsWithAnAccent@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    An immunity? Fuck no.

    A tolerance though? Yes, you totally can!

    You’ll never be invulnerable to cold of course, but you will adapt to it if you’re exposed regularly to cold.

    The real trick to dealing with extreme cold is layering up with the right gear for the conditions, but being adapted to it definitely helps!

  • Epicurus0319@sopuli.xyz
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    1 year ago

    You can build up resistance. I live in WA, when I visited Spain everyone was shocked to see me perfectly fine in just a t-shirt when it was 55 american degrees out

  • Curious Canid@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Be careful about the limits of adaptation. You can certainly adjust to temperatures that are colder than you’re used to. You will still die if you are inactive outside without protection below 50 degrees F (10C).

      • Tangent5280@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Funny mental image of man huffing and puffing trying to kill himself in a snowbank thats more mud than snow.

        • jet@hackertalks.com
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          1 year ago

          You don’t die from external temperatures, you die from internal temperatures.

          You could die in 60° weather sleeping on rocks. Because the rocks are a great conductor of thermal energy and will drain your core temperature. That’s why when you’re camping it’s important to put some insulation between you and the ground.

          So people, in the right weather conditions, could go out in freezing temperatures in a t-shirt. But if they’re out too long, or it rains, or they become less active, or if they sit down and take a nap, they’re in danger when they’re core temperature gets low enough.

          For the acclimatized people, they’ve got a much bigger buffer than the unacclimatized people.

          • Tangent5280@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Alright, that makes sense. In the summers of my childhood, we didnt have AC so we’d lay down on the living room floor with a ceiling fan and the floor would wick away body heat. We had to be careful not to fall sleep, because if you spent too long it would make you really cold, even to the point of shivering till your teeth clacked.

  • angrystego@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Yes, you can build tolerance to cold temperatures by slow gradual exposure to them. Using cold water at the end of showering and wearing one Layer of clothes less to feel slightly cool (but not freezing) works well. Aside of cold tolerance, the benefits include boosting your imune system, turning your white fat into Brown fat, which is able to burn calories (and make heat from them, that’s why you feel warmer) and lowering inflammation in your body.

  • CaptObvious@literature.cafe
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    1 year ago

    You can definitely build tolerance. So long as it’s above 50°F, I’m likely to be shirtless while hiking or running. Wim Hof may be onto something in terms of what’s possible.

  • robocall@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I moved from a hot part of the world to a colder part. I’d say I’ve climatized and acclimated to the colder environment.

    • Em Adespoton@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      I’d feel I was cutting my 21k runs through the snow and ice short though.

      And I’m fully covered on those; no shorts and Tshirt until March-ish.

    • RBWells@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      That never worked for me. I used to run in the early morning before dawn and if it was warm I could warm up and feel good. If it was cold (yes sometimes it gets cold even in Florida) I had to run wearing layers to be able to warm up enough to feel safe running. Sweatpants over yoga pants, tank, long sleeve running shirt, jacket.

      I have seen people adapt to the heat here though, and my brothers who grew up in warm climate and moved to the northeast certainly adapted.

      • Maharashtra@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Oh, I wouldn’t ever suggest that the method does everything its author says it does - the claims of helping in cancer cases and such are wee bit too “optimistic”.

        But the question was concerning the possibility to build up cold immunity. And the answer is “yes”. The method I mentioned absolutely will build up cold’s immunity (or resistance, or tolerance if language purism is a factor) in everyone who will attempt it.

        There’s no magic hocus-pocus in it. It’s very simple concept used in many “methods” - Buteyko comes to mind, so does Russian Siberia.