Natural Health Remedies | Jon Barron's Blog

Warm Hands, Warm Heart: It’s True!

Weather, Mood

A number of studies over the years have examined the relationship of weather to mood, usually finding that sunshine imparts a sunny outlook. Now a few new studies underline the finding that exposure to warmth — not only through weather but also from food and contact with warm objects — tends to cheer people up and even to make them nicer.

The first study, out of the University of Toronto, asked subjects to remember a time when they experienced rejection, and then to guess the temperature in the room. A control group remembered a time when they felt socially embraced. Of the 65 participants, those in the group remembering rejection estimated that the room temperature was an average of four degrees colder than those in the “embraced” group.

In a related experiment, the same research team set up subjects to play a ball-tossing video game, supposedly while linked to players on four other computers. In fact, the computers were not linked; rather, the game was preset to either toss the ball intermittently to the user, or to toss it a few times at the beginning and then to withhold it for the remaining 30 throws. At the conclusion, users filled out ostensibly unrelated questionnaires indicating their ratings of various food products. Those in the “excluded” group rated warm foods (hot coffee, soup) considerably higher than those who got to play ball, verifying that exclusion makes us crave warm comfort foods.

The authors conclude, among other things, that the popularity of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series derives from the fact that drinking warm soup “may be a literal coping mechanism for social exclusion.” They also wonder if one way to ease the pain of social rejection would be to control the ambient temperature, so that after being hurt you could go to a warm room to heal instead of paying for a Lexipro prescription. (Or then again, you could just crawl into bed, assume the fetal position, and turn the electric blanket up to nine.)

In another, unrelated set of experiments, this time conducted by Lawrence Williams of the University of Colorado and John Bargh of Yale, subjects were asked to hold a cup of either hot coffee or iced coffee for just a minute on their way into the lab. Once inside the lab, the subjects received written descriptions of someone and then evaluated the personality based on the description. The hot-drink holders gave far more positive ratings to the described subjects, judging them to be more caring and generous. Makes you wonder, though, on which side of the scale flaming drinks served at a bar belong (hot because of the flames, or cold because of the ice).

 

A related study by that research team asked subjects to hold either a heating pad or an ice pack and then to choose a gift either for themselves or for someone else. The heating pad holders more frequently opted for a gift for their friends.

Do these studies confirm that warm is good and cold is bad? Not according to Dr. Joe Forgas of the University of New South Wales. He just published a study that found that gloomy, cool weather tends to sharpen the mind. In fact, subjects exposed to bad weather and feeling blue recalled three times the amount of information on memory tests compared to their performance on sunny days. “It seems counter-intuitive but a little bit of sadness is a good thing,” says Dr. Forgas. “Mild negative mood… tends to increase attention to our surroundings and produce a more careful, thorough thinking style.”

Fortunately, not all researchers advocate a dose of gloom in exchange for enhanced brain-power. In fact, at least one study adds an interesting twist that may negate the “stormy weather leads to smart performance” theory. A 2004 study from the University of Michigan found that subjects actually improved memory function in good weather, but only if they spent at least 30 minutes outside. Mood also improved, but again, being outside in the good weather was the key. Those who stayed indoors when the sun shone actually experienced diminished memory and worse moods.

Given that the typical inhabitant of a developed country stays indoors 93 percent of the time, the healing power of warmth and sunshine tends to bypass the masses. Instead of “making hay while the sun shines,” we’re busy banging away on keyboards in sterile temperature-controlled offices or cooling off in air-conditioned living rooms. That may be why Florida residents, for instance (no regionalism intended), who spend most of their time indoors sequestered in air conditioned comfort, aren’t any more famous for friendliness or for exuberance than their Minnesota neighbors.

In the case of the weather, the positive mood derived from sun may be related to vitamin D, since studies show that vitamin D deficiency may be linked to depression. And as I recently wrote, deficiency of vitamin D has reached epidemic proportions in our indoor-dwelling industrialized nations.

How does all this information about warmth and sunshine add up? First, it reiterates the fact that it’s good practice to get outside for at least half an hour every day while the sun shines. It does absolutely no good to be in sunny climes when you’re cooped up experiencing the weather only by gazing out the window. Next, it supports the argument for supplementing with 1,000 to 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily, since you’re certain to experience stormy weather and have days where you have to be house- or office-bound. And finally, it underlines the fact that enjoying warm comfort foods, warm baths, and cozy temperatures when you feel down actually may be good therapy — lots safer and cheaper than taking drugs.

Then again, several slices of warm pizza might indeed make you feel better in the short run, but you’re probably a whole lot better off, health-wise, long term, with a raw salad. Sometimes it seems you just can’t win for losing.

:hc