I’m sure we all have a lot of questions about the way our bodies feel to the touch at times. Sometimes when you touch certain parts of your body, it can be cool to the touch or at times, even warm. Does it necessarily mean something?
Does the stomach being cold to the touch mean it’s cold internally or only externally? Is it something to be worried about? Why do specific areas of your body feel cold? What is a stomach cold? What does it mean if your stomach is cold while working out?
In short, if you are thinking of the coolness of the skin of your stomach, that could simply be a tiny alteration in your blood flow to the skin. On the other hand, if you are thinking of the coolness deep inside your stomach, that is probably a misunderstanding of your stomach nerves, which sends wrong signals to your brain. In both scenarios, it isn’t much to worry about.
What is a stomach cold and your chances of having it?
Stomach cold, also known as Deficient, is a syndrome that occurs when you eat way too many cold food items or haven’t eaten enough protein.
However, the stomach feeling cold to your touch is merely one symptom of it. The best way to identify if you do have a stomach cold would be to check if you have any of the following symptoms.
| Common symptoms of stomach cold | Less common symptoms |
| Discomfort in your stomach area | Your stomach feels cold whenever you touch it. |
| Lack of thirst | You’d have a need of keeping your back and stomach warm |
| Loss of appetite | You will feel fragile |
| Slight nausea along with vomiting a clear liquid. | Standing upright would cause your stomach to ache. |
| Arms and legs will feel weak | Diarrhea and lack of colour in your stools |
| Paling of the tongue | Phlegm will be runny or white. |
What is causing your stomach to be cold?
The 2 main reasons that you need to be aware of, for this situation is your food intake and diet. But, even weather conditions may affect this unnatural feeling.
- The diet – At this point, you need to ask yourself, have you been eating way too much cold/refrigerated/frozen food? If you have even drunk a lot of iced drinks, had ice cream especially in the winter season, this could cause your stomach to feel cold. But it is not just cold food that causes this disease. For some people, the food or drink does not have to be frozen, but if they eat or drink too much of it as well, a stomach cold can occur. Even raw food or bad meat that has gone stale could cause this, which is why you need to be extra careful about what goes into your mouth. Lacking the nutrition that your body needs, mostly in protein, and embracing too much junk food could cause your stomach to feel cold.
- The weather – The weather too can result in a stomach cold since you would be regularly exposed to low temperatures. What happens then, is that your body will note this and save up your heat and energy. This would impact your stomach and you could feel uncomfortable “cold chills” as well.
How to remedy the coldness in your stomach if it’s a stomach cold
So, if the “coolness” that you feel in your stomach is an outcome of the stomach flu cold, what kind of remedies can you resort to other than visiting your local doctor?
Here are some steps you can check out at the convenience of your own home.
- As confirmed by a study conducted in 2019, to help soothe your stomach flu symptoms you could drink clear fluids. Ingredients like ginger, salt, basil would do good to relieve your discomfort.
- BRAT diet – A BRAT diet is composed of foods that are easiest to digest so that your stomach wouldn’t have to struggle with the issue of digestion. It includes bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast; all of which can make the whole process of recovery smoother.
- Rest – Rest is the most important of them all. Even when you have to be out of bed, try and lay down on a couch and take it easy. Since your body will be working long and hard to fight off the infection, your body is going to need all the rest it can get.
If you’re not suffering from any of the above-mentioned symptoms, stomach cold might not just be the reason why your stomach feels cool when you touch it. And maybe you have noticed that this “coolness” is not just limited to the stomach either.
Why do fat areas of your body feel cold?
Most probably the coldness you feel is nothing to worry about. Areas of your body with a high-fat content have their blood vessels tightened and they also contain a smaller number of vessels. This is because fat cells usually use large amounts of volume.
Due to this heat released can be lesser in fatty areas. This could be why your stomach feels cool to your touch, mainly because your body shuts them down to funnel blood to muscles and better areas to radiate heat. This was confirmed by a study in 2013.
What does it mean if your stomach is cold while working out?
1. Heat transfer – Does this coldness that you feel in your stomach occurs during a workout or even afterward? If so, the answer could be a reduced blood flow which is to be expected with exercise. During your exercise, your stomach would be the last part of your body to warm up. Your legs; belonging to the quadriceps muscle group will be one of the first to heat up, making you feel like your stomach is relatively cooler.
2. Sweat factors – When you’re in vigorous training, your sweat may evaporate and cool your body. With quite an amount of sweat trapped within your shirt, you might just be confused as to the feeling of wetness with the cold. This complex interaction between temperature and wetness may lead you to feel your stomach cold to the touch.
Conclusion
You needn’t worry too much about feeling a cold sensation around your tummy area. However, if you are experiencing other discomforts, or if the “coldness” becomes abnormally cold and leads to “chills” within your stomach the best thing to do would be to consult your doctor.
Either way, it’s best to focus on keeping your stomach healthy and maintaining its nutrition just to be safe.
