How Can Your Body Learn to Tolerate Cold?

BrainStuff

iHeartPodcasts

Technology, Science, Natural Sciences

4.0 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 30 March 2026

⏱️ 12 minutes

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Summary

When you shiver, your fingers and toes go numb, or you get goosebumps in the cold, that's actually your body trying to keep you warm. Learn how it works -- and how you habituate to chilly temperatures over time -- in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/systems/nervous-system/body-learn-frigid-temperatures.htm

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0:43.3	Picture a brisk morning at the sandy shore of San Francisco Bay.
0:48.3	Tony Gilbert is not a former Olympian swimmer.
0:51.4	He's not part of a super athlete team, though he knows swimmers like that.
0:55.9	And he's not wearing a wetsuit. In his usual swim trunk, swim cap, earplugs, and goggles,
1:02.5	Gilbert wades into the 46-degree Fahrenheit water, that's 7 degrees Celsius, and swims out into the
1:09.1	murky bay. Gilbert is a hobby, cold water swimmer. He's been doing it
1:14.6	for over a decade. He returns to shore some 40 minutes later, exhilarated. For the article this
	...

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