The case of bodies as conductors of heat

I've considered this theory on and off over a few years now- At my dinner last night, somehow this topic came up again and I was arguing against my original usual position, simply because no-one else seemed convinced and I love a good battle for the 'underdog' side. Anyway, since I was first introduced to this topic a few years ago, I think I have become more n more convinced that this theory could be correct...read on.

Men have always tried to convince me that sleeping naked in bed was the better way. Sorry to say, I've had to question this in the past as one must always be a little suspicious of bias. Still, they put in good argument that there were also beneficial elements to it.

BENEFITS

1. You didn't need to invest in pajamas. This could be a costly exercise (esp. if you were a girl)

2. The less clothes you wear in bed, the warmer you will be. This is due to the heat from your body being 'captured' by your blanket, if it is a down blanket.

3. If there were more than one person in the same bed , this is even better because the body heat generated from both bodies would be even more effectively utilised to keep each other warm. Clothes would not be a barrier. Point in fact that not that many years ago, it was common for Icelandic families to share single beds in pairs, naked, to keep each other warm. 8 people in 4 beds, in a tiny tiny room.

It was the 2nd benefit that was the hypothesis in question. Although I sleep in various 'styles', I never consciously thought about the effects of clothes/no clothes/thin clothes/thick clothes and its relationship to warmth. Last night I was to try to record my experience with just the bare basics (yes, consciously, in my sleep).

Except as the control, I stuffed up. I was too hot to sleep under my quilt, so I slept on top of it with a thin bedsheet over me. During the night it became too cold but I couldn't be bothered to move under my blanket.... so I caught a bit of a cold.

Haha. Maybe it's an experiment better kept for cooler nights. It's probably a question of the naughty control also trying to be a variable. But that's why I've been feeling woozy all day.