Cold Feet and Cold Hands: Causes and Natural Solutions

Woman with cold hands and feet Cold hands and feet are very common these days, especially during night sleep and in people with Raynaud's disease and diabetes. What is the meaning of this symptom? It is a sign of insufficient blood and oxygen supply to body cells and extremities. Most people can easily notice that when they get sicker, they experience more problems with cold feet and hands. While there are many factors that are triggers (not causes), there is only one cause.

Meaning of cold hands and feet

What is the physiological meaning of cold feet and cold hands? In his article, "Hyperventilation and anxiety state" published in the Journal of Royal Society of Medicine, Professor Lum stated that cold extremities are a classical symptom of chronic hyperventilation. Cold feet and cold hands mean that the person has less than 20 s of oxygen in body cells (see the body oxygen test below).

This graph is based on 24 medical articles. It explains why problems with poor circulation and chronic diseases (heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc.) are very common in modern populations.

Effects of hyperventilation on circulation

Effects of heavy breathing on brain circulation and oxygenation Hyperventilation reduces arterial CO2 pressure, and low CO2 in the blood causes constriction of arteries and arterioles due to the CO2-vasodialtion effect. As a result, all vital organs of the human body and extremities get reduced blood and oxygen supply. Indeed, if you try forceful hyperventilation, in 1 minute your brain oxygen levels will be about two times less and in 2-3 minutes most people can faint due to critically low brain oxygen content.

Temporary (or quick) remedy for cold feet/hands

You can use a simple breathing exercise developed by Russian medical professionals who taught the Buteyko breathing technique to thousands of their patients. This exercise can be found here: Warm up Cold Hands-Feet in 2-3 Min (Breathing).

Permanent solution

Smiling medical doctors The normal body oxygen levels are from about 40 to 60 s 24/7. Hence, if you normalize your automatic or unconscious breathing patterns (so that your breath-holding time will be over 40 s all the time), your chronic problems with signs of poor circulation and cold hands and feet will naturally disappear.

In fact, for most people, it is sufficient to achieve about 25 s for the body oxygen test in order to improve their poor circulation and have warm extremities. Furthermore, people with sleeping problems and diabetes can eliminate their insomnia at night and prevent complications due to diabetes using breathing retraining.

References
Lum LC. Hyperventilation and anxiety state, J R Soc Med, 1971 Sep 24; 113(39): 1255-8.

Reference Web Pages: Breathing norms, Medical Graphs and Tables about Breathing Rates (Minute Ventilation) and Body Oxygen in Healthy, Normal and Sick People
Breathing norms Parameters, graph, and description of the normal breathing pattern
6 breathing myths 6 myths about breathing and body oxygenation (prevalence: over 90%)
Hyperventilation Definitions of hyperventilation: their advantages and weak points
Hyperventilation Syndrome in the Sick. Table 1. Western scientific evidence about prevalence of CHV (chronic hyperventilation) in patients with various chronic conditions (34 medical studies)
Normal Minute Ventilation in Healthy Subjects: Easy and Light Breathing (14 Studies)
Hyperventilation Prevalence Present in Over 90% of Normal People (24 medical publications)
HV and hypoxia How and why deep breathing reduces oxygenation of cells and tissues of all vital organs
Body oxygen test How to measure your own breathing and body oxygenation (a simple DIY test)
Body oxygen in healthy Table 4. CP (body oxygen level) in healthy people (27 medical studies)
Body oxygen in sick Table 5. CP (body oxygen level) in sick people (14 medical studies)
Buteyko Table of Health Zones with clinical description of most common zones
Morning HV Morning hyperventilation effect or how and why critically ill people are most likely to die during early morning hours

References: CO2 Effects Web Pages
Vasodilation: CO2 expands arteries and arterioles facilitating perfusion (or blood supply) to all vital organs
The Bohr effect How and why oxygen is released by red blood cells in tissues
Cell Oxygen Levels and oxygen transport are controlled by alveolar CO2 and breathing
Oxygen Transport depends on breathing and these two effects (Vasoconstriction-Vasodilation and the Bohr effect) are parts of two diagrams that summarize influences of hypocapnia (low CO2 content in the blood and cells) on circulation and O2 delivery
Free Radical Generation takes place due to anaerobic cell respiration caused by cell hypoxia. Hence, antioxidant defenses of the human body are also regulated by CO2 and breathing
Inflammatory Response is controlled by breathing since hypoxia leads to or intensifies chronic inflammation through over-expression of the hypoxia-inducible factor 1, while normal breathing reduces these processes
Nerve stabilization takes place due to calmative or sedative effects of carbon dioxide in neurons or nerve cells
Muscle relaxation or relaxation of muscle cells is normal at high CO2, while hypocapnia causes muscular tension, poor posture and, sometimes, aggression and violence
Brochodilation - dilation of airways (bronchi and bronchioles) by carbon dioxide, and their constriction due to hypocapnia
Blood pH regulation and regulation of other bodily fluids
CO2: Lung Damage Healer: Elevated carbon dioxide prevents injury and promotes healing of lung tissues
CO2: Skin and Tissue Healer
Synthesis of Glutamine in the Brain, CO2 fixation, and other chemical reactions
CO2 myth "CO2 is a toxic waste gas" myth
Breathing control How is our breathing regulated? Why hypocapnia makes breathing uneven and erratic

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