Why Am I Getting Cold When I Have So Much Body Fat?

#1

At the end of Day 3 of what I hope will be a 5 day fast.

I drink about a tablespoon of HWC in my morning coffee. On Day 1 I did have some broth with shiritaki noodles (delicious). Not very hungry. At times I feel like you do an hour before lunch, could eat but it is not a rush and then the feeling passes and I do not care whether I eat or not.

I have lost about 30 lbs (LC/Keto since April) and have at least 65 more to lose to be at a good weight (note not ideal weight). So I should have 1800 calories a day or more to use. Have been supplementing with sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. I am sure that when not fasting I am sometimes in keto and sometimes not, not from cheating but perhaps too many nuts or berries or peanut butter but I am losing so I do not care. While I had a busy day I did not exercise today and I usually do not anyway,

This evening I have been pretty cold, arms not hands so much. I have one kid that is always cold and she was fine, I was the one who was sitting in a jacket. I had a teaspoon of EVCO and now feel better but I cannot understand why I got so cold in the first place. I do worry about losing lean body mass and wondering if the coldness is a sign of that.

I am fasting for weight loss
and for autophagy, hoping it reduces my skin as I lose weight

(Crow T. Robot) #2

It’s not, don’t worry. Once you stop the fast, you’ll feel warm again. However, I used to feel hot all the time, and now I feel better able to handle the heat. I can cope with up to 80 indoors without much fuss, but I used to suffer if the thermostat was above 72. I think fasting helps reset hormones and that’s what regulates your body temperature most.

#3

Yep, yep. This has been a not insignificant benefit for me. I don’t know if it was keto, fasting, or just the weightloss, but I’m so much better able to handle heat, this has saved us thousands of dollars because we won’t have to install the upstairs zone cooling system that we were planning.

(Tim W) #4

I fast for long periods at 8-12% body fat and deal with cold hands/overall cold as well.

I’m trying something new, iodine.

After reading an “OLD” (circa 1990) diet book that basically said to eat a keto diet, even though they didn’t realize it, I came across a paragraph discussing a lack of iodine and how it could cause cold extremities, dry skin and a few other issues that I suffer from.

So, I went to the pantry and checked, the salt that we normally use, no iodine, the sea salt we use, no iodine, lite salt, no iodine… hmmmmmmm

Considering the fact that I’ve been doing IF and long term fasting (4-15 days at a time) for over a year, I could have “used up” any iodine stored in the body and am running a deficit over time.

So, I now take an iodine supplement each morning along with my keto aid. The winter is coming up, we’ll see how it works when the temps drop!

(Allie) #5

When I was doing IF I was always freezing cold regardless of weather or any other factors. Warmed up once I ate though. I always just accepted it as a side effect of my fat stores being used for fuel.

(Mark Rhodes) #6

Biff do you have any dosing info on that or just using the general guideline that comes with the iodine? I ask because this is the third time I have read iodine helps with the loss of thermogenic warmth generated by the digestive system during fasting.

(Tim W) #7

I look for the reference from the book I was reading and get back to you.

(Sjur Gjøstein Karevoll) #8

I’ve heard you should start low and slowly increase over time because starting too high right away could cause an auto-immune response. Increase your dose by 1mg/day every week or two depending on how you feel until you reach the level that’s good for you. You should also look into selenium supplementation if you’re doing iodine supplementation.

If you’re looking to get it from food, the most reliable source is seafood. You can get it from other food too, but because the iodine content of soil has so much variability it’s impossible to say if what you’re eating is a good source or not.

#9

I eat 1 Brazil nut a day for selenium

#10

Thank you everyone. When I first started fasting before I was adapted I would get really cold after 36 hours. This was not too bad and this morning I was a little too toasty. I do not mind this level of cold as long as I am not losing lean body weight

(Sjur Gjøstein Karevoll) #11

Oh, and one more thing that can work: Drink hot drinks. This can make the body open up capillaries more, increasing blood flow to your extremities. It won’t help if you’re just cold in general, but it will help if you’re too hot because increased blood flow to your extremities also means more heat is lost through them. The drink itself won’t add any significant heat to your system because it’s so small compared to the size of your entire body. Beware that caffeine may have the opposite effect.

#12

Your body heat is a result of digestion, it’s normal to feel cold during fasting. Essentially your body is keeping the blood where it needs to be (organs > fingertips). Hot drinks are a huge help as are baths. I also have one of those heat packs that you heat in the microwave which feels great on my lower back or neck when I’m cold from fasting. Another very underrated tool of fasting is a heated foot massager, that baby gets used almost everyday lately.

(Tim W) #13

I also rotate between selenium supplements and/or brazil nuts (they can be hard to source at times).

As for the hot drinks, I actually warm up water as if making tea, and drink it straight, plain hot water… good stuff!

#14

So is my BMR slowing the way it would on CICO? That would be as bad as losing LBM

#15
(Crow T. Robot) #16

I thought I was the only one that did this. I actually like it better than plain tea with nothing added.

I could also add for the OP, a brisk walk or other light exercise also warms me up. That’s also a good option.

(Tim W) #17

I can’t for the life of me find the Ebook I read that discussed this issue. I had to format this laptop a few weeks ago and I lost my calibre ebook library, that book was in that library and I deleted it from my reader once I was done with it.

I will keep my eye out for it but I bought a supplement with 255 mcg which is 155% of the RDA, I take it for “about a week” then drop it for a bit. I’m pretty loose with it, once the winter comes though, I’ll probably take it daily to see if that helps me survive the cold.

(Mark Rhodes) #18

Thanks. That all seems reasonable. I don’t get chilled much even during the Wisconsin winters. Fasting around 48 hours for me and 24 for the wife seems to do it though.