As temperatures drop, one positive thing may be said for frigid weather: It makes us shiver, and shivering is good for metabolic health.

A new study has found that cold exposure combined with shivering may enhance insulin sensitivity and provide a valuable lifestyle strategy for managing obesity-related metabolic disorders.

Shivering Is Key

The study, conducted at Maastricht University Medical Centre in the Netherlands and published in Nature Metabolism on Dec. 6, involved 15 overweight or obese adults aged 40 to 75 years, including nine participants who were glucose intolerant. Over 10 days, participants were subjected to intermittent cold exposure, which induced shivering.

Participants abstained from alcohol and caffeine throughout the study and arrived at the research unit in an overnight fasted state for all visits. None had Type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease and were generally considered healthy.

Participants wore a suit perfused with water to induce heating or cooling. Temperatures were cooled to 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius) to provoke shivering for one hour. The researchers found that participants experienced significant metabolic improvements.

The study was a follow-up to previous research in 2021, which showed that when Type 2 diabetes patients were exposed to cold acclimation but shivering was prevented, participants did not experience metabolic improvements.

Cold acclimation in the new study was associated with a more stable blood sugar level during an oral glucose tolerance test.

It was also linked with a 3 percent decrease in fasting plasma glucose and an 11 percent reduction in clinically relevant two-hour glucose concentrations. Notably, the number of participants classified as glucose intolerant decreased from nine to five after the cold acclimation period.

Cold Exposure Improved Lipid Metabolism

Beyond glucose metabolism, the study highlighted improvements in lipid (fat) metabolism. Serum triglyceride concentrations dropped significantly—17 percent after a single cold exposure and 32 percent following the complete 10-day cold acclimation. “The observed reduction in fasting serum triglyceride concentrations potentially holds clinical relevance,” the authors noted, underscoring the role of shivering in these beneficial effects.

Additionally, participants experienced notable drops in blood pressure, with resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure reduced by 10 mmHg and 7 mmHg, respectively. These reductions were observed in every participant and suggest a consistent effect of the cold exposure protocol.

Potential Strategy to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Disease

While the study presented promising results, the authors acknowledged its limitations, such as its lack of a control group for comparison and the inability to fully control participants’ lifestyles between cold exposures. “Future research should determine the optimal frequency, duration and intensity of cold acclimation with shivering,” they concluded.

The findings suggest that cold acclimation with shivering can improve blood sugar control and cardiometabolic risk markers in adults who are overweight or obese, supporting the potential benefits of repeated cold exposure as a lifestyle strategy for preventing Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.