Do you resist the cold better than the others? It is possible that your muscles lack the protein “α-actinin-3”, which would allow better tolerance to cold.
- People with low sensitivity to cold would lack a protein called “α-actinin-3”.
- About 1.5 billion people in the world would be affected by this resistance to cold.
We are not equal when it comes to the sensation caused by low temperatures. Some are always cold and some never. According to a study published in theAmerican Journal of Human Genetics, this reduced sensitivity to cold would be linked to the absence of a protein in the muscle fibers of the people concerned. This is the “α-actinin-3” protein, the deficiency of which would have the effect of causing slower muscle contraction. According to Swedish researchers from the Karolinska Institute who led the research, this resistance to cold concerns 1.5 billion people in the world, or about one person in five.
This discovery was made during an experiment carried out on men between the ages of 18 and 40 who immersed themselves in cold water (14°C) for 20 minutes, then took ten-minute breaks before dipping. ‘to go back there. Participants did this for 120 minutes. The goal was for their body temperature to drop to 35.5°C. Throughout the experiment, the scientists monitored the electrical activity of the participants’ muscles in real time.
The other side of the coin for people resistant to cold: slow muscle contraction induces reduced performance in sports requiring strength and vitality. If your muscles are devoid of the “α-actinin-3” protein, it would be better to turn to endurance sports.
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