Body Temperature And Emotional Fluctuations: What's The Link?

Body temperature is often thought of as a fixed number, but that's not entirely true. While we commonly hear that normal body temperature is 98.6°F (37°C), this is only an average. Your actual body temperature can vary, and that's completely normal.

Body temperature doesn't remain constant throughout the day. Your temperature may change for several reasons:

- Time of day: It's normal for your temperature to be at its lowest point just before you wake up and highest about an hour before you go to bed.

- Physical activity: When you exercise or engage in any physically demanding activity, your body generates heat, which can cause your temperature to rise.

- Hormonal fluctuations: Women of childbearing age experience changes in body temperature throughout their menstrual cycle. Temperature tends to be lower in the first half of the cycle and rises during ovulation.

- Diet: Eating spicy foods can trigger your brain to think that your body is overheating, causing sweating and a temporary drop in body temperature.

- Gender: Women have slightly higher body temperatures compared to men.

- Age: Younger people tend to have higher body temperatures than older adults.

- Body weight: People with a higher body weight may have a higher body temperature than those with a lower body weight.

Factors such as stress, illness, and even the weather can also cause your body temperature to fluctuate.

Body temperature varies daily, typically by about 1°C between its highest and lowest points

The body has an internal thermostat that aims to maintain your temperature as close to your goal as possible. The stability of that number, known as your core body temperature, reflects your body’s ability to turn up the heat or cool things down to keep you within your ideal range.

Each day, your body has plans to adjust your temperature to follow your circadian rhythm by warming you up to start the day and cooling you down for sleep. Yet diet, exercise, hormones, and many other things affect your temperature. As a result, your body is constantly making adjustments to keep it all balanced.

When you are too hot, your body tries to radiate, or get rid of heat, by widening your blood vessels to carry excess heat to your skin’s surface. As sweat evaporates off your skin and blood loses heat to the air, your body cools.

When you are too cold, your body tries to insulate, or trap heat by narrowing your skin blood vessels so the blood keeps more heat in your core, as well as raising your temperature through shivering.

The stability of your temperature is an indicator of your body’s ability to adjust in the face of challenges. It signals how you’re recovering, how prepared you are for the day, if you’re coming down with an illness, or if hormones in your body are hard at work.

The body has an internal thermostat that aims to maintain a stable core temperature

Body temperature doesn't remain constant; it fluctuates according to the circadian rhythm and is influenced by factors such as diet, exercise, and hormones. The stability of body temperature is an indicator of the body's ability to adjust in the face of challenges and signals how the body is recovering and how prepared it is for the day.

Body temperature can be influenced by external factors such as warm or cold weather, hot showers, and spicy food. Internal factors such as hormonal fluctuations throughout the menstrual cycle can also cause changes in body temperature. For example, women tend to have higher body temperatures than men, and younger people tend to have higher body temperatures than older adults.

A body temperature above 100.4 °F is considered a low-grade fever, while a temperature above 103 °F is considered a high-grade fever. A body temperature below 95 °F (35 °C) is abnormally low and is classified as hypothermia, a serious and potentially life-threatening condition.

Diet, exercise, hormones, and other factors can affect body temperature

Diet

It is unclear how diet influences body temperature. However, a study by Bruno et al. found that when participants felt physically cold, they perceived emotionally warm stimuli more favourably than emotionally cold stimuli. Conversely, when participants felt physically hot, they perceived the emotionally cold stimuli more favourably.

Exercise

Exercise affects body temperature by increasing the body's core temperature. During exercise, the body's muscles burn energy, generating more heat. This is similar to an engine overheating. As a result, the body sweats to cool down, releasing excess heat through the skin.

Hormones

Female reproductive hormones have been found to influence thermoregulation. Estrogen tends to promote lower body temperatures by increasing heat dissipation responses, while progesterone tends to promote higher body temperatures.

Other Factors

Other factors that can affect body temperature include ambient temperature, clothing, and hydration. For example, wearing loose, breathable clothing made from materials like cotton can help the body cool naturally through evaporation. Additionally, staying hydrated is essential for maintaining body temperature, as water plays a crucial role in regulating body temperature and preventing overheating.

A body temperature of 100.4°F is considered a fever

Yes, it is normal for body temperature to fluctuate with emotion. Emotions and temperature are closely related through embodied processes, and people tend to associate temperature concepts with emotions. For example, colloquial language often uses expressions such as "warm love" and "chilled with fear" to describe emotions.

Research has found that people generally associate positive emotions with warmer temperatures and negative emotions with colder temperatures. For instance, a study by Francisco Barbosa Escobar found that participants associated positive-valenced, low-to-medium arousal emotions with a temperature of 20°C, and positive-valenced, high-arousal emotions with 30°C.

However, the relationship between emotion and temperature is complex and bidirectional. Emotional states can also influence temperature assessments. For example, participants in a study by Wang and Liu felt warmer under a boring emotional state than under a joyful or neutral state.

A body temperature of 100.4°F (38°C) is considered a fever. Most healthcare providers define a fever as a body temperature of 100.0°F (37.8°C) or 100.4°F (38°C). A low-grade fever is typically considered to be between 99.5°F (37.5°C) and 100.3°F (38.3°C).

Fever is usually the body's response to fighting an infection or illness. It can be caused by bacterial or viral infections, autoimmune disorders, or a reaction to certain medications or vaccinations. Fevers are typically not a serious concern and will go away once the infection passes.

In addition to an elevated temperature, fever symptoms can include chills, feeling cold, shivering, body aches, headaches, fatigue, sweating, and a flushed complexion or hot skin. In babies and young children, fever symptoms may also include a lack of appetite, earache, high-pitched crying, paleness or flushness, and decreased urination.

If you have a fever, it is important to drink plenty of fluids and get plenty of rest. Taking a lukewarm bath can also help bring down your body temperature. Over-the-counter medications such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen, and aspirin can also help reduce a fever.

If your fever is above 101°F (38.3°C), you may want to try to break the fever using the above methods. If your fever rises above 103°F (39.4°C), it is recommended to contact your healthcare provider for advice and treatment.

Body temperature can be influenced by external factors, such as weather conditions

Body Temperature Fluctuations

Body temperature can also be influenced by internal factors, such as diet, exercise, and hormones. For example, eating spicy foods can trigger the brain to think the body is overheating, causing sweating and a temporary drop in body temperature. Similarly, exercising or engaging in any physically demanding activity will generate heat, causing a rise in body temperature.

On average, an individual's core body temperature varies from 36.5–37.5 °C (97.7–99.5 °F) over the course of a day. Generally, this means body temperature is at its lowest a few hours before waking and its highest an hour or two before bed. An individual's core body temperature typically changes by about 1 °C (1.8 °F) between its highest and lowest points each day.

Optimising Body Temperature

There are several ways to influence and optimise body temperature:

• A hot shower can encourage the body to rapidly cool down afterward, signalling to the internal thermostat that it is time for bed.
• A cold shower can stimulate the system and cue the body to heat itself to stay awake.
• A cool room can make it easier for the body to maintain an ideal temperature during sleep.

Tracking Body Temperature

Tracking body temperature can be a useful way to understand overall health status. It is best to measure body temperature at night when the body is stable. At night, body temperature is a reflection of what happened during the day—whether the body is stressed outside of its ideal range or able to maintain a stable thermostat.

When to Seek Medical Attention

While fluctuations in body temperature are normal, extremely high or low body temperatures may signal a medical emergency. A body temperature above 100.4 °F is considered a low-grade fever, while a temperature above 103 °F is considered a high-grade fever. A body temperature below 95 °F (35 °C) is abnormally low and is classified as hypothermia, a serious condition that requires immediate medical attention.

Frequently asked questions