With the arrival of winter, dressing warm is important to preventing joint pain and staying mobile. As Kevin Stone, MD, chairman of the Stone Foundation for Sports Medicine and Arthritis Research in San Francisco, sums it up: “Warm tissues are elastic. Cold tissues are stiff.”
But what’s the best way to retain body heat outdoors? Experts recommend winter dressing in several layers of thin, breathable, non-absorbent clothing, instead of tossing on one heavy jacket. Multiple layers of clothing help trap multiple layers of warm air, resulting in greater body heat retention. Less-absorbent, thinner layers, like silk or merino wool, actually keep you warmer than thicker forms of cotton.
Try these age-old and innovative materials to dress warm:
Try silk
It’s tightly woven, but breathable, making it a good insulator. Silk works best as a base layer against your skin.
Try down
What’s good for the goose, well, you know the rest. Down is perhaps nature’s best insulator. It will keep you warmer than most man-made materials.
Try wool
For centuries, wool has been used as an insulator, providing warmth even when wet. But wool often meant a hefty layer. Not anymore. Wools are now blended with other textiles, like polyester, which makes them less bulky, less scratchy, more flexible and able to pull moisture away from your body so it keeps you warm, but not too warm.
Try fleece
Fleece is man mimicking nature: It has wool’s water repellent properties and down’s softness.
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