Why does my body start to shake when I get very cold???

Answer 1

Shivering is the body's reaction to a drop in temperature, and it is intended to increase the temperature through increased blood flow to the muscles.

Interesting side note: shivering stops when hypothermia sets in. This should be taken as a very bad sign.

Answer 2

Your natural body defenses detect a drop in your temperature, then tell the muscles to start shaking (involuntarily) to produce heat. Same as when you move away from an object that is hot to the touch, without you even thinking about it. It's when your body DOESN'T do this is when you should start to worry.

Answer 3

When it gets very cold, your body is triggered to shake or shiver which is a reflex attempting to create warmth by expending energy through small movements in muscle groups around the vital organs.

This happens when the primary motor center for shivering located in the dorsomedial portion of the hypothalamus becomes activated when the body temperature falls. Such response is aimed to bring back the temperature to its normal range.☺

Answer 4

You are a warm blooded organism. When the weather gets cold, your body decides that it needs to burn up stored reserves of food, mainly fat. So your muscles start to work by shiverring. The use of stored fat and sugars produces heat. This then warms the blood and increases the body temperature.
If the body is low on fats or sugars, or the temperature drop is too low, the hypothermia sets in and your body shuts down.
On the other end of the scale is things like reptiles who require to bask in sun to heat the body up. When they get cold, the body shuts down and the metabolism or processing of stored food in the form of fats and sugars slows down. In fact the animal is hibernating.

Answer 5

It is the -ve feedback due to a drop in temperature..ur body has to cater for the drop in temp so that ur body temp remains constant..therefore shivering occurs..muscles activity r increased..therefore,energy is produced..n the temperature rises..

Answer 6

Its your body's natural response to keep your temperature at a certain level within homeostaitic equilibrium. Movement creates heat, and your body involuntarily does this so that you wont go into shock or any other possibly detrimental states of health.

Answer 7

The body is trying to make itself warm. When you shake, you are moving a bit. And movement, means friction, which means heat.

Answer 8

Your muscles are trying to create heat by moving. You know, your physics course, where they told you that all forms of energy convert from one to another all over the place? Kinetic energy converted to heat is one of the easiest. In fact, heat IS kinetic energy at the molecular level.

Answer 9

I think its an action to keep warm.When you move you crate friction.

Answer 10

Your body shakes to generate heat. It is a natural reaction...much the same as "goose bumps."