The body temperature is one thing that we consider only when we feel feverish. But it is not something that you should take into account just at the time when you have a fever. Your body temperature reveals a lot more about you than you know.
It does take some amount of time before you can use the data. By that, it means that you have to record your body temperature for a couple of weeks before you can reach any conclusion. But consider the fact that it just takes half-a-minute and it is free.
So here an attempt is being made to give you some idea of what your body temperature is capable of telling you. Just have a look.
1. Your Circadian Rhythm or When Your Body Wants to Go to Sleep – Circadian rhythm is the reason why you wake up in the morning and feel tired at night. If your circadian cycle is completely out of control then you can feel tired around 5 am in the morning and will wake up around noon. Your circadian rhythm coordinates the internal clock of your body to the real world. As part of the circadian cycle, the body temperature varies in healthy human beings.
Ø Maximum Body Temperature – Most awake (usually late afternoon)
Ø Minimum Body Temperature – Most sleepy. This occurs a couple of hours after the maximum production of the hormone melatonin. This happens in the very early morning sometimes.
This study reveals that the evening people have a later temperature peak while the morning people have an earlier temperature peak. So your body temperature is a decent way to figure out whether the body wants to be asleep or awake.
How to Use This – So if you are being unable to fall asleep at night and wake up in the morning, you should have a look at how your circadian cycle is doing by measuring the body temperature. If your body temperature is low at around 12 am and not reaching its low around 9 am then there is the problem. Use lights in this case to control your circadian rhythm.
2. How Fast Your Metabolism Rate Is– You can get a fair idea about your metabolic rate from your body temperature. The body temperature drops when people lose weight as the metabolism rate slows down. That is the reason why some people keep feeling cold when they are dieting and also when they are doing something extreme.
This fact has been proved by several experiments. It is true that with weight loss your metabolic rate drops and it is harder to maintain the lowered weight as you are always fighting your body’s desire for regaining the weight. But the reduction of temperature and the metabolic slowdown actually increases longevity.
How to Use This – You can determine what kind of metabolic response your body is showing to a particular diet by keeping track of your body temperature. As you lose weight to track your temperature. You can thus judge whether a low carb diet works for you or a moderate carb is better.
3. If Your Metabolic Health is Improving – The metabolic health refers to the insulin sensitivity, carb tolerance as well as blood lipids. Metabolic health refers to the number of calories that you burn in just one day. Those with better metabolic health show more variation in their body temperatures as the highs are higher and the lows are lower. They also have greater consistency on a day-to-day basis.
This has been proved by studies that have been conducted with people who have better metabolic health and those who have at least one metabolic problem. The healthy group had a variation of at least 1.5 degrees while the unhealthy had less than 1 degree Celsius variation.
How to Use This –Measure the temperature at several points of the day to find out the variation of the body temperature between your high and low. You should do it for few days as something may go wrong on the first day. After that, you should measure again to see whether your metabolic health is improving or not. You can go for a physical activity in order to change your body temperature, in this case.
4. How Much Stressed You Are – In rats and humans, stress leads to an increase in body temperature. This phenomenon is called stress-induced hyperthermia. This is actually least useful for daily life. You can usually detect the acute stressed condition. Like if you are stressed over an exam and meeting and you are sweating, you do not have to measure your body temperature to know that you are stressed. But there are also examples where there has been a chronic rise in temperature because of long-term stress.
How to Use This – Take your own temperature at the same time each day for a week when you are not stressed. It is essential to take the temperature at the same time so that the circadian cycle does not affect it. This acts as the baseline. Then you can get some idea of whether you are stressed or not. Temperature alone is not a completely reliable indicator in this case. So see if there are other symptoms like insomnia, constipation, diarrhea etc.
5. If the Seniors Have Fever or Not - It can happen that you always feel cold even when the sun is on top of the sky on a hot summer day. This can be your age talking in reality. Research shows that the normal body temperature declines slightly with age. Temperature starts falling after you are 65 years old and it is the lowest above the age of 85 years when the temperature can go as low as 93.5 degrees F.
How to Use This – The seniors may have a fever at a lower temperature than the younger adults and this you cannot detect if you are unaware of the fact. So knowing the normal body temperature of the senior will help to know whether he or she has a relatively high temperature or a fever.
The above are some of the things that your body temperature tells about your health. That is why it is imperative that you always have a quality thermometer at home that you can get at the best digital thermometer price from any reputed online medical supply store. So the next time you record a higher body temperature you should keep track of it and delve deeper as it can be an indicator of something more serious.
About Author:
Hi! I’m Akshay Sharma. I’m a blogger at Imagination Waffle. I love to read and write about Fitness, Health & Lifestyle topics