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How Sweating Keeps Our Bodies in Balance

We’ve all been there: under the blazing sun, perspiration dripping on our foreheads, feeling dreadfully uncomfortable. Colloquially known as ‘sweating,’ or its proper scientific term, perspiring, it’s an unpleasant situation and is often associated with negative connotations such as social humiliation and sticky, disgusting, and stinky feelings.

 

Nevertheless, everyone sweats, and it’s an essential, natural phenomenon that enables our bodies to maintain equilibrium.

Image by Galina Nelyubova

Sweat, a combination of water and salts produced by glands in the skin, regulates our body’s
temperature through the process of evaporative cooling. The heat produced by our body during
metabolic processes is absorbed by liquid sweat molecules, which convert into vapour, resulting in a
cooling effect.

 

This process is also accompanied by other benefits, like detoxification, enabling us to
flush out waste materials like heavy metals and harmful chemicals.

Image by Nik Shuliahin 💛💙

Sweating can be triggered by:

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  1. Spending time in a hot environment, especially in regions with warmer climates.

  2. Carrying out physical activity during exercise or exertion.

  3. Facing stressful or anxiety-inducing situations.

While everyone sweats, the experience can vary, and thus the amount of sweat produced by a particular person can differ greatly.

 

Moreover, lifestyles, genetics, and environments play a big role in determining whether one sweats a few hundred millilitres to several litres in a day. Usually, men and heavier individuals tend to sweat more than their respective counterparts.

Image by Gold's Gym Nepal

It is a common belief that sweating more is synonymous with greater calories burned, but this is not true. The number of calories burned during a workout is determined by its duration and intensity rather than the amount of perspiration produced.

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It is also possible for some individuals to sweat too much (hyperhidrosis) or too little (anhidrosis). Anhidrosis can be life-threatening, as it can cause dehydration and nerve issues as a result of the body overheating.

Sweating is undoubtedly crucial, but how might we overcome the negative impacts sweat brings
about?

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  1. Body odour is a concern linked to sweat. On its own, sweat is odourless, but upon encountering bacteria on the skin’s surface, it tends to produce an unpleasant smell. To combat this, breathable fabrics are your friends. They enable adequate ventilation for your skin to reduce sweating and, thus, odour.

  2. Sweating causes fluid loss from the body, which can lead to dehydration. This has several undesirable consequences, and thus, it is important to replenish the lost fluids and maintain optimal hydration. Isotonic drinks like Pocari Sweat comprise a strategic blend of electrolytes to replace the salts lost when we sweat while also offering enhanced hydration.

 

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We may have always considered sweat an unwelcome guest in our lives, but it actually plays an
imperative role in supporting and promoting our well-being. Sweating is just our body doing its part
to keep things in balance!

Resources:

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  1. BetterHealth. Sweat. Victoria State Government Department of Health. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/sweat Cleveland Clinic. (2022, March 4). Body Odor.

  2. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/17865-body-odor#:~:text=Body%20odor%20is%20what%20you,necessarily%20impact%20your%20body%20odor

  3. Healthline. (2019, April 25). The Health Benefits of Sweating. https://www.healthline.com/health/sweating-benefits#takeaway

  4. Khim, Khoo Bee. (2024, April 30). Why do some people sweat a lot? Does sweating help you detox? Why does it feel sticky after it’s dried up? CNA. https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/wellness/hot-weather-sweat-stains-stickiness-detoxify-sports-clothes-eczema-389011

  5. McCallum, Katie. (2020, August 19). How Sweat Works: Why We Sweat When We’re Hot, as Well as When We’re Not. Houston Methodist Leading Medicine. https://www.houstonmethodist.org/blog/articles/2020/aug/how-sweat-works-why-we-sweat-when-we-are-hot-as-well-as-when-we-are-not/

  6. ScienceDirect. (2019). Sweat. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and- dentistry/sweat#:~:text=Sweat%20is%20approximately%2099%25%20water,drugs%20in%20hair%20and%20sweat

  7. Yoong Loo Lin School of Medicine. (2019, October 3). The benefits of sweating. NUS.
    https://medicine.nus.edu.sg/news/the-benefits-of-sweating/

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