LSFE: Does Eating Make You Cold?

I’ve always loved outdoor dining at restaurants. Who doesn’t!? But despite the overwhelming number of restaurants in NYC, there is a limited amount of comfortable and enjoyable outdoor dining space. Sure for the three months during the summer you’ll see a few tables and a crappy divider set up on the sidewalk, but that’s not what I’m really talking about. And of course, even the places that have the space are limited by the weather…or are they?

One of the greatest things I experienced throughout the city of Berlin, was the open air dining scene. And your probably thinking the same thing I was…isn’t it pretty damn cold in Berlin these days? Well, it wasn’t unreasonable, but it was definitely cold. The cure? It wasn’t hot beverages. It wasn’t hot foods. It was blankets! Seems so simple but what a way to immediately fall in love with a restaurant experience. So as it’s getting colder and colder, and darker and darker in the city, I hope some of my favorite restaurants are reading this. But since I doubt they are, I may just have to buy a snuggie…

This got me thinking though…have you ever gotten cold after eating? I can’t think of the last time I was extremely aware of this “phenomenon” but I do remember as a kid, feeling this way fairly often. My Mom would always say that I must have gotten more of her genes…But when you break it down (great  pun) feeling cold after eating doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Eating stimulates the metabolism which in fact generates heat. Hmmm, this seems like a job for the internet!

But unfortunately my searching came up with little that seems definitive (damn you internet!). So here’s a few thoughts of mine, and I’d love to hear a few of yours. Comment below!

• I remember always attributing this perceived cold to an issue with blood flow. Blood must head to the stomach to aid in digestion and therefore blood is flowing less in the external portions of your body. This argument does seem logical at first, but as I said above, the heat generated by your metabolism should at the very least counteract this, if indeed this is true. I’m not convinced!
• Maybe more believable is the possibility of a digestion deficiency. Whether it be from the quality or type of foods we are eating, or an internal issue of our own, a less than stellar digestion system may be the cause of this cold feeling. In fact, when you are nauseous, don’t you feel cold? I like this answer.
• What about location? I feel like I’ve experienced this issue mainly from eating out. Typically dining out comes with larger portions than eating at home. Overeating could easily be a contributor right? Too much food will slow and hinder digestion again contributing the previously mentioned thought.
• And half in jest (man the puns just keep coming)….maybe it’s the air conditioning and gallons of ice water I tend to drink….

What do you think?