I have a number of friends who always complain about having cold hands and feet. I do not have this problem, but I sympathize with them.
In winter the problem gets even worse. Yesterday I was sitting near a nice wood fire having a cup of coffee with a friend. After an hour, she said that she had cold feet and cold hands too.
I reached onto her and put my hands on her ones just to find out that there were what I would call near-frozen hands. That is why I am writing this post today.
If you have cold hands or cold feet, there are many potential reasons for this. I list a couple of them below to help you identify the one that leads to this body dysfunction.
If you can identify the reason behind this, then you can take action and resolve the problem. That is how I think, and I believe that is how we should all think
Why do we get cold hands and feet?
The vast majority of people think that cold hands and feet are only related to poor blood circulation. They think that your blood circulation system does not work well and as such you get cold hands.
However; there are many other reasons why you get cold hands. For instance, the most likely cause for this is that it is cold outside and you have not been moving for a long period.
Let me explain as the above may sound trivial. It is not though.
Our body is a complex machine. When it detects something wrong, it reacts.
So when your body detects that it is cold outside, it first starts generating heat. It does so by burning fat in your body. This is great for people who want to lose weight 😉
When it reaches the maximum fat burning it can handle, and it still detects that it is cold outside, it has to pull out the heat from a number of organs. This is where it decides to not direct the heat to your feet and hands.
That’s when you get cold feet and cold hands.
How to get your feet and hands warm again?
Now, if you want to warm up, one of the things you can do is to move. Let me explain.
Do not forget, your body can only react to a certain level. It is like having permission from you.
You allow your body to burn fat to warm up without your intervention. But your body is only allowed to burn a certain amount.
In other words, you subconsciously do give the green light, but you put a cap on fat burning. Weird isn’t it? This is called human body preservation.
Now if you want to burn more fat and get warmer, you need to send the right signals. The only way to do this is by starting to move such as walking fast, or running, physical work, etc. So you are now in control of your body heat generation.
There are other ways you get warm-up, such as drinking a hot drink (hot chocolate, tea, herb tea, soup, etc.).
You can use a duvet, heater, sit near a wood fire. But if this does not help, then you may be having one of the below conditions. If you have, you definitely need to take action as cold feet or cold hands may well indicate serious health problems.
Here are the four main reasons behind our cold limbs.
1- Why does Anemia cause cold hands and feet?
Simply put, if you have cold limbs, then most of the time you will feel exhausted and your level of fatigue will increase. In fact, you may even be subjected to headaches. While doctors may give you chemical medicine to cancel headaches, they are not dealing with the real cause of your problem.
Usually, if you have these three symptoms (cold hands, cold feet, and headaches), then you may have what we call iron deficiency. The best way to go to your doctor and ask them to check for this.
Iron deficiency is an issue that you must act upon. You need to know that iron is the most important mineral in hemoglobin (other minerals are important too).
If you do not know this, hemoglobin is a molecule. This molecule is what carries oxygen in your blood. It is also what gives your blood its color. So if you do not have enough iron, then you may not oxygenate your body to the levels it needs.
But what iron mineral has to do with anemia. Usually, if you are a victim of anemia, your body will not have enough iron. Hence, your blood, blood circulation, and body will not operate well and as such, you’ll end up with cold hands and feet.
Why do anxiety and stress cause cold hands and feet?
Stress and anxiety are two reasons why you get this ‘annoying’ condition. Stress does stimulate adrenaline secretion.
When this happens, it obstructs your blood vessels. As such you reduce the size of your veins etc. and thus weakens your circulation.
If you weaken your circulation, you end up with cold hands and feet. This is fine if this condition occurs once in a while. If it does often, then you must act upon it and find a tangible solution.
Are cold hands and feet a symptom of thyroid problem?
Thyroid and thyroid glands play an important part in our body function. The thyroid is the organ that slows down metabolism. So if it is not working properly, it may slow down your body at times you need it the most. If it does, you’ll end up with cold limbs.
You can identify this by a number of symptoms. For instance, this includes fatigue, slow movement, drowsiness and even intolerance to high temperatures.
Why cold hands and feet are a symptom of diabetes?
First, you need to identify if you may have diabetes. One way of doing this is as follows: first and obviously, you must be a victim of cold limbs. Second, cold limbs must be accompanied with tingling. If you have these two conditions, then you may have early signs of diabetes. Go and do a quick blood check-up.
Cold limbs can just be the impact or side effects of diabetes. In this case, what you will end up with is having an impact on your nervous system.
Your nervous system will send signals saying to you that you are hungry. It will tell you that you need to drink as you are thirsty too. So you’ll end up eating more and drinking more.
But you will not gain or lose weight. If you have these symptoms, you may need to check your blood sugar levels often.
Where to buy iron supplements?
If you have iron deficiency, then you may want to get some iron supplements. You can choose to eat food with more iron content. This is what I advise. However, some of my friends use iron supplements in their daily diet. So you can try them and see how it goes for you. Here is the link for you.
Conclusion
Cold hands and feet can hide some major issues in your lifestyle or your body. For instance, you can be a victim of anxiety and stress without even knowing it. You can have diabetes or thyroid dysfunction.
The other issue you may have is a lack of iron in your bloodstream. This is what allows oxygen to flow in your veins, so please make sure you go and check for iron levels. Better be safe than sorry.
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See you soon in another Omigy post.