Effect of Environment Temperature on Metabolism

Factual Questions
1

I have a fairly high metabolism, and I tend not to put the heater on above 19 degrees Celcius. I noticed that a fair few girls I know are often cold and generally like to dress up in warmer clothes and have the heater on higher. Mind you not nearly all of them, just some.

That got me thinking about whether having the heater on at, say, 25 on average would change your metabolism, as you don’t need as much food to stay warm, for instance. At the very least I could imagine that if you have a high-metabolism you also are likely to maintain a high body temperature, and maintaining a high body temperature would require more energy to be spent.

There must be someone out (t)here who knows more about this than I can quickly find on Google (not much, I just read a bit about Kiwis).

2

Interesting question. I’ve often wondered if metabolism could be “trained” to work harder by exposing your body more to cold (say, by wearing less clothing)

I do know that the “sense of cold” can be trained. When I, used to Dutch cold, went to sapin, I was surprised at seeing Spanish people walking around in sweaters and jackets while I thought it was hot enough to wear just a T-shirt.

So “sense of cold” IMHO, can be trained, but it would be nice to know if metabolism could be trained. I wouldn’t mind burning a few extra calories and staying warmer without having to pile on the wool sweaters.