Shivering during repeated cold exposure improves glucose tolerance, lowers fasting blood sugar and blood fat, scientists say.
It also significantly lowers blood pressure in overweight and obese adults — and may help beat diabetes, research has shown.
The research, presented yesterday at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Stockholm, highlighted the potential for repeated exposure to chills triggering chills as an alternative strategy to treat and prevent type 2 diabetes.
The preliminary study, by Adam Sellers, Sten van Beek and colleagues from Maastricht University in the Netherlands, shows that previous research has shown that when people feel cold, glucose is removed from the blood more quickly.
Brown fat was thought to play an important role in lowering blood glucose and improving insulin sensitivity in humans, helping to reduce insulin resistance and the risk of diseases, including diabetes.
“Brown fat is a metabolic heating system in our bodies that burns calories,” said Mr. Sellers.
“This generates heat and prevents calories from being deposited as normal white fat. Brown fat is activated during colds and when we eat, but its activity is less in older adults and in individuals with obesity and diabetes.
A previous study found that 10 days of mild acclimation to cold — 14°C to 15°C, six hours a day — significantly improved insulin sensitivity in patients with type 2 diabetes.
But the change in brown fat after cold acclimation was small and could not explain the large improvement in insulin sensitivity.
However, after acclimation to the cold, changes in the body cause glucose to be cleared from the blood and into muscle. This can help beat diabetes, which is caused by too much sugar in the blood. This can be life-threatening if not treated or controlled.
When we’re cold, we can activate our brown fat because it burns energy and releases heat to protect us. In addition, muscles can mechanically contract or shiver, creating heat.