If you have ever been hospitalized one of the first things a nurse will do is take your temperature. This is a vital sign along with heart rate and blood pressure.
Your temperature is a great representation of not only your well being but what is occurring at the cellular level. The definition of a calorie or gram calorie (usually denoted cal) “is the amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius (or one kelvin).” In other words, your temperature is intimately related to your metabolism or your ability to ‘burn’ calories.
Seemingly outside the hospital this easy and affordable test is neglected compared to taking one’s blood pressure.
The body’s ability to maintain a temperature with little fluctuation is called thermoregulation. This is a process that allows your body to maintain its core internal temperature. All thermoregulation mechanisms are designed to return your body to homeostasis (a state of equilibrium).
A healthy internal body temperature falls within a narrow window. The average person has a baseline temperature between 98°F (37°C) and 100°F (37.8°C). Your body has some flexibility with temperature However, if it varies too much it can affect your body’s ability to function. For example, if your body temperature falls to 95°F (35°C) or lower, you have “hypothermia.” This condition can potentially lead to cardiac arrest, brain damage, or even death. If your body temperature rises as high as 107.6°F (42 °C), you can suffer brain damage or even death.
You can see with a variance of 4 degrees Fahrenheit and 2 degrees Celsius and the body can be in trouble. Which emphasizes just how important and telling the body temperature is.
Those who have used the timing method to get pregnant will have some insight into the importance of body temperature. This method involves tracking the basal body temperature and trying to conceive a couple days prior to raising a woman’s body temp will raise about .5 to 1 degree about midway through the cycle due to an increase in progesterone.
There are various mechanisms involved in controlling body temperature which include:
Sweating: Your sweat glands release sweat, which cools your skin as it evaporates. This helps lower your internal temperature.
Vasodilatation: This happens when the blood vessels under your skin get wider. This increases blood flow to your skin where it is cooler and away from your warm inner body. This lets your body release heat through heat radiation.
If your body needs to warm up, these mechanisms include:
Vasoconstriction: This occurs when blood vessels under your skin become narrower. This decreases blood flow to your skin, retaining heat near the warm inner body. Example: cold hands, feet and possibly nose.
Thermogenesis: Your body’s muscles, organs, and brain produce heat in a variety of ways. For example, muscles can produce heat by shivering.
Hormonal thermogenesis: Your thyroid gland releases hormones to increase your metabolism. This increases the energy your body creates and the amount of heat it produces.
Methods of measuring
There are many ways to record body temperature but the three more common choices are:
Oral: The digital thermometers of today make this the preferred choice for convenience. Drinking or eating very hot or cold food can affect temperature measurement when measuring orally. 15 to 20 minutes should be a safe time frame away from food. Physical activity can alter a person’s core body temperature. A patient that has recently exerted themselves should be given time to recuperate prior to taking a measurement. Usually exercise will drive up temperatures unless the adrenals are on overdrive. It is important that the patient keep their mouth closed during oral measurements. The most accurate results will come when the thermometer is properly positioned in the sublingual pocket and the mouth is closed.
Auxillary
The underarm must be dry prior to measurement. You may need to wipe the a dry towel prior to measurement.
After placing the probe tip in the armpit, bring the arm down close against the body to trap body heat.
The probe tip should be oriented in the same direction of the body, with the tip towards the patient’s head.
Rectal Measurement
Not the popular choice but some contend to be more accurate. Generally, water-soluble jelly or petroleum jelly should be used as a lubricant when taking rectal temperatures. This will allow for easier insertion of the probe and hopefully increase comfort during the measurement.
The probe tip should be inserted no more than ½ inches or 1.3 cm into the rectum. You should never force the probe tip in if resistance is encountered.
If you have been recently heavily exercising their legs or lower body may have an elevated rectal temperature.
About a hundred years ago the temperature test was used to access thyroid functioning. Broda Otto Barnes in 1942 made it popular advised in his book, ‘Hypothyroidism: The Unsuspected Illness’ and continued with support in, “Solved: The |Riddle of Heart Attacks’
He argues that Basal Body Temp (BBT) is a more accurate and a more convenient predictor of thyroid status than both Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and blood cholesterol. In this book, he advocates oral measurements. “The patient places a thermometer and book by his bedside. When he awakens in the morning the thermometer is left in the mouth without interruption for ten minutes by the clock.” He states: “From a study of over 1,000 cases the results indicate that subnormal body temperature is a better index for thyroid therapy than the basal metabolic rate.”
A couple of popular studies would support this assertion.
The biosphere 2 study where healthy adults spent 2 years sealed off from the outside world. They had to eat a low-calorie diet that caused 18% weight loss in men and 10% weight loss in women. These participants were not overweight going in had an average body temperature around 98.6. But by the time they got out, their body temperatures had dropped to 96-97 F, and sometimes lower. When they started eating again and regained their weight, their body temperature went back up to normal. This mirrored their thyroid function. A lower body temperature corresponded to lower thyroid hormone levels. Evidently, their body temperature dropped as their metabolic rate dropped. It then rebounded when they resumed their normal eating pattern.
A similar result came from the Minnesota Starvation Experiment . this took place in 1945-46 and it was to study the physiological and psychological effects of dietary restriction and subsequent re-feeding.
The study was designed to have the participants lose 25% of their normal weight over an eight-week period by the following formula: For the first three months, participants ate 3200 calories a day and were quite well fed and comfortable.
Then, for the next six months, participants were restricted to an uncomfortable low calorie diet of 1570 calories a day. After this brutal period of deprivation, the men were then fed 2000-3000 calories a day. Finally, the study was concluded with the participants being allowed to eat an unlimited number of calories a day.
During the starvation period there were very noticeable changes.
Coldness, incessant hunger, weakness, exhaustion, dizziness, muscle wasting, and hair loss were some of the symptoms.
Also, heart volume shrank by 20%. Heart rate slowed. Body temperature dropped. Obsessive thoughts of food. Binging behavior. Extreme depression. Severe emotional distress. Irritability. Loss of libido. Interest in everything other than food vanished. Social withdrawal and isolation. Several subjects became frankly neurotic. One patient reportedly amputated 3 fingers with an axe in an act of self-mutilation. WTF !
Safe to say this study won’t be repeated.
Resting metabolic rate dropped by 40%. In other words, the body was shutting down. Let’s consider this from the body’s point of view. The body was accustomed to getting 3,200 calories per day and now it gets 1,570. In order to preserve itself, it lowers energy production. It has no choice.
The heart gets less energy slowing the heart rate and heart volume shrinks. Blood pressure drops.
The heating system is turned down and the body feels cold.
Muscles get less energy leading to physical exhaustion.
Hair and nails get less energy resulting in hair loss and brittle nails.
These were survival measures the body used under a time of extreme stress.
Not meaning to get sidetracked here but I wanted to show how metabolism, body temperature, energy and well being are extremely intertwined. I also want you to take notice of the calorie count in the deprivation phase of 1570 calories a day. This number and below is routinely handed out in weight loss regimes.
Broda Barnes recommended tracking temperature over a period of time to get an idea of what was happening.
Taking your temperature upon waking before you brush your teeth or drink/eat would be the first measurement of the day. this is the measurement you’ll be at your lowest temperature likely. the body typically will rise slightly throughout the day and usually slightly after meals. Tracking for 5-7 days will give you a good picture of how your body is functioning.
A healthy functioning thyroid will consistently maintain a basal body temperature between 97.8 °F (36.6 °C) and 98.2 °F (36.8 °C) upon waking.
Anything lower than 97.8 °F (36.6 °C) implies that at complete rest, your cells are not able to produce adequate energy to meet the energy demands of your body.
This would indicate that you are in fact hypothyroid.”
