• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Your Body / Why Is Your Body Warm?

Why Is Your Body Warm?

March 1, 2020 by Karen Hill

When you feel hot or cold, you are actually feeling the temperature of your blood. Since you are considered a warm-blooded animal (along with birds and other mammals), your body maintains an average temperature of 98.6° Fahrenheit (37.0° Celsius), no matter what the temperature is around you. Each species of warm-blooded animals has its own normal body temperature. Your normal body temperature is maintained by a part of your brain called the hypothalamus.

The hypothalamus, along with controlling hunger and thirst, is actually a “temperature center,” which receives messages from nerves in your skin and deep in your body. It regulates the temperature of your blood by burning food to generate body heat when the air outside is cold, and cools your blood when the temperature outside is too hot.

Shivering and other physical activity also generate body heat in cold weather, while sweating and panting cools you off in hot weather. So whenever there is a change in the temperature of your blood, your body makes some adjustment to get it back to normal.

Cold-blooded animals (all those except mammals and birds), on the other hand, do not have this built-in brain control over their body temperature and must resort to other means. Reptiles, for example, crawl into the sun to warm up and seek the shade when they are hot. Some fish increase the action of their muscles to generate body heat.

Your body temperature does vary during the day. It is lowest in the morning, rises in the late afternoon, and falls again while you sleep!

Related Facts

  • If a body temperature of 107 degrees Fahrenheit is fatal, what low body temperature is generally fatal?
  • Why Does Your Body Need Water?
  • How Much Blood Do You Have in Your Body?
  • How Does Blood Get Around Your Body?
  • Is Air Important to Your Body Cells?
  • Which Is the Largest Gland Inside Your Body?
  • What Does Your Body Do While You're Asleep?
  • Do You Really Have Salt Water in Your Body?
  • What Do Your Body Cells Do with the Food You Eat?
  • What Makes Your Body Tired?
  • Why Do You Cup Your Hands Around Your Mouth To Call Someone Far Away?
  • How Do Your Eyes Grow, When Do Your Eyes Stop Growing, and Why Do Eyes Change Their Shape?

Filed Under: Your Body

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Does Everyone Have the Same Blood Type?
Next Post: When Did You First Start To Grow? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2021 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy