It could be eighty degrees and some woman are still freezing cold. How many of you guys get in bed only to be greeted by your significant other’s popsicle toes being attracted to your warm legs like a moth to a flame? Cold hands and feet are extremely common symptoms, especially for woman. So let’s talk about this problem so you don’t have to resort to wearing socks. Nobody wants to wear socks to bed!
The most common reason for cold hands and feet is clinical hypothyroidism. Clinical because blood tests don’t show up as positive. Your thyroid gland is found at the base of your neck and among other things controls your metabolism and temperature regulation through out your body. Another common reason for cold feet is fluid retention. Fluid retention is usually caused by kidney and liver stress or dehydration.
Clinical hypothyroidism means your thyroid gland is not working the way it should to keep you warm. Many woman suffur from this problem, but when they go get checked out their thyroid function comes back normal in their blood work. This can be very frustrating but is easily explained.
There are three reasons people have clinical hypothyroidism, but their thyroid blood tests are normal. The first reason is called estrogen dominance. Estrogen dominance means you have too much estrogen compared to the amount of progesterone you have. The second reason is your body doesn’t have enough iodine to produce thyroid hormone effectively.
Estrogen dominance causes cold feet and hands because estrogen competes for thyroid hormone binding sites on cells throughout the body. You can have plenty of thyroid hormone being produced, but if there is so much estrogen floating around , then estrogen and thyroid hormone duke it out for the right to bind to the cells. This is what leads to the cold feet and hands problems.
The second reason cold feet and hands are commonly causing clinical hypothyroidism is without iodine in your body; you can’t make thyroid hormone effectively. Since the 1950’s there has been a huge decrease in the daily amount of iodine people consume. Unless you eat tons of ocean greens, such as kelp, or seaweed you are probably iodine deficient. When your body doesn’t have enough iodine, your blood work looks normal but your feet and hands are still very cold.
Fluid retention is the third common reason for cold feet and hands. If your kidney and liver aren’t functioning up to par, you will hold on to fluid. When you’re puffy, it puts extra pressure on your cells and they can’t absorb nutrients the way they usually do which leads to a metabolism drop. So if you eat plenty of green leafy vegetables, which help with liver metabolism, and drink plenty of water, which helps your kidneys function, you can get rid of most of your puffiness and help your feet and hands get warm again.
So before you break out the socks eat tons of green leafy vegetables and drink more water. These two things can be very helpful… but so can turning up the thermostat.
