00:00Right team, listen, it's going to be hot over the next few days and I'm going to tell you why
00:04women
00:05feel the heat more than men. They're not being dramatic, they are being factual and it's really
00:10fascinating in terms of the reason behind it. So we know that hormones play a role and that's true.
00:15Oestrogen and progesterone can affect how your body regulates temperature and menopause and hot
00:21flushes can make things so much worse. So absolutely that is true. But there are some other things that
00:27people just don't think about. It's important that you know this. So women tend to have smaller bodies
00:32and less blood volume than men. That means when temperatures rise, the body has less circulating
00:38blood available to move heat from the core to the skin where it can escape. So that takes longer.
00:45Women also tend to have smaller hearts and narrower blood vessels. So shifting blood around the body
00:52to get rid of excess heat may be slightly less efficient than that of a man's. And here's a
00:58really interesting one, I think. Research suggests women often have a higher skin temperature, but a
01:05lower core temperature than men. So even when their body isn't actually overheating, they can feel hot
01:11and more uncomfortable as well. And there's also all the other issues, things like dehydration,
01:17because women are generally smaller than men. Losing the same amount of fluid through sweat
01:23can have a bigger impact. They can become dehydrated quicker. A litre of sweat lost affects a petite woman
01:29much more than a large man, for example. There's also things like iron deficiency. Women are much more
01:35likely to be low in iron because of periods. And if your iron levels are low, hot weather can leave
01:41you
01:41feeling absolutely wiped out, dizzy and exhausted. And let's not forget all those things like sleep.
01:48Women are already more likely to be struggling with sleep disruption during perimenopause and menopause.
01:53So hot weather just adds to that awfulness. And poor sleep then makes you feel less able to cope
02:01with the heat the next day. So yes, I know hot weather is nice for lots of us. But if
02:08you're struggling
02:08and if you're feeling it, particularly as a woman, you know why that is. And you can absolutely
02:15complain about it. It is your biology and complain about it if you need to.
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