Is sweating good? 6 protective effects against sweat

Sweating is a fundamental physiological fact for the organism. without noticing it, we get to perspire from half to a liter a dayand with profuse sweating in extreme conditions ten liters can be reached.

Some people associate perspiration with a biblical curse (you will earn your bread with the sweat of your brow), but more than a punishment, it constitutes a hygienic precept.

Sweat is a salty-tasting liquid composition similar to that of urine. It is mainly segregated by eccrine sweat glandsformed by a secretory glomerulus and an excretory duct that ends in the skin.

There are some six hundred glands per square centimeter of skinand its concentration increases in the palm of the hands, the soles of the feet and the frontal region of the face.

1. It has a thermoregulatory effect

Sweat glands play important roles in the water metabolism and thermoregulation by the evaporation of sweat and moisture from the skin surface.

Perspiration is a body cooling medium. The inhabitants of very hot areas have genetically adapted to these climates since time immemorial. His curly hair makes it possible for sweat to stay longer, as well as its cooling effect.

In the cases of fever you usually sweat very little; when the fever has accomplished its task, sweating appears and thermoregulatory equilibrium occurs at a lower temperature. In ancient times it was said that in those moments the disease had lysed and it was resolved smoothly and favorably.

2. Release pheromones abroad

Sweating can also be caused by a physical response to excitement and fear, as these stimuli speed up the heart rate and induce increased heat production.

The apocrine sweat glands empties into a pilosebaceous follicle. we find them in the axilla, perineum, pubis, and external auditory canal. The mammary gland is in fact a modified apocrine sweat gland.

They produce odor-responsible substances characteristic of areas such as the armpits and sexual organs. One of those substances is pheromonesa Greek word that can be translated as “excitation vehicle”.

Many plants and animals use different aromas or chemical messages as a means of communication, whose codes serve both to attract sexually and for other purposes. Depending on the individual and their genetics, a type of substances conducive to a certain type of bacterial flora will be segregated; that way the smell will serve to approach related bacterial flora if it is pleasant or reject those others that are intuited as unpleasant or dangerous.

3. Sweating when exercising loses weight

exercise and sweating before eating is highly recommended. It has been proven that exercise before eating improves and regulates appetite and metabolism. Precisely not doing it can favor metabolic problems such as obesity and diabetes.

The sweat produced by exercise is more concentrated in salts than other types of sweat. Therefore the best option to sweat is exercise; and getting drenched in sweat can be very good, especially if followed by a bath.

Now, when we are practicing a sport or the heat makes us sweat, many times we feel sorry or annoyed. Even when we see someone sweating more than necessary is unpleasant to us.

We are accustomed to despise sweat, to avoid at all costs our own smell: we resort to a large number of deodorants, perfumes and even antiperspirants to hide it or suppress it. However, trying all the time to inhibit something as natural and necessary as sweat not good for health.

Does sweating lose weight? Sweating without physical laboras occurs in the sauna and steam bath, leads to few calories being burned and therefore does little help to lose weight. The weight that is lost by sweating, being liquid, will be recovered soon. However, the sweat generated by physical exercise leads to a consumption of calories at the same time. burn the reserve of carbohydrates, fats and proteinswith which it is a good ally to regulate weight.

sweat is a body fitting tool. Some use it minimally and others do it profusely, but does not denote a better state of form the fact of sweating more or less.

The cold shower It’s a good way to finish off a sweaty physical job, but it is necessary to be adapted to it and never feel cold before receiving it. If these circumstances do not occur, it will be more prudent to use the hot shower and finish with a brief cold application.

During the rest phase after sweating it is important to make a good adaptation of the thermoregulatory system. For it you have to wrap up well, in order not to go from one phase of heat to another of cold abruptly. The ideal is adapt to normal or ambient temperature.

Water is one of the best drinks. In this case, it is preferable water rich in mineral salts than trace metals. If the water we usually drink is weakly mineralized, it can be drink a vegetable broth or an infusion rich in salts; fruit and vegetable juices are also suitable.

4. Eliminates toxins and prevents infections

The sweat allows to regulate the excess of heat; at the same time, the increase in temperature stimulates the immune system. It has been discovered that sweat not only expels toxins from the body but also protects it from infections, thanks to a protein (demicidin) secreted by the sweat glands that is capable of exterminating microbes.

The acidity and salt of sweat help demicidin to kill bacteria and even fungi. Not surprisingly, saunas and sweat lodges were once used to treat infections.

Manuel Lezaeta and other pioneers of medical naturism have used various types of steam baths with good results in kidney patients, since the sweat gland performs a job very similar to that of the renal nephron, especially when it comes to eliminating toxins. People who urinate little tend to sweat a lot, and vice versa, reinforcing the fact that the skin is often called “the third kidney.”

sweat can be a indicative of general health. A person who smells good to us is healthy, while bad body odor can announce anything from a bacterial decompensation to an infection or a great general malaise.

Experienced doctors affirm that they can smell the seriousness of a sick person and even perceive a special smell when the patient is close to death.

Sweat contributes, together with the bacterial colonization that occurs from the moment of birth, to maintain the acid mantle of the skinwith a characteristic odor that varies by bacteria. Among the most common are:

Micrococci: Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermis, saccharolytic Peptococcus.Coryneform bacteria: Corinebacterium sp., Brevibacterium sp. Propionibacteria: P. acnes, P. granulosum, P. avidum.

the washing frequent with soap moves the surface pH toward alkaline and favors the growth of propionibacteria such as those associated with acne. One way to control body odor is keep in balance these bacteria, with the predominance of those that give the best odor.

It has been seen that maintaining an acidic pH is betterand that applying essential oils such as lemon peel eliminates the worst-smelling bacteria and helps maintain the balance of the usual non-pathogenic bacterial flora.

5. Sweating in the sauna is relaxing

In order to sweat, very healthy options have been created that have even been linked to rituals, such as the steam bath, the Turkish bath, the sauna and the temascalwhich allow both sweating and relaxation.

A Finnish proverb says that anger evaporates in the sauna. Certainly in it not only sweat and toxins are eliminated, but also peace of mind is gained. The most common mistakes when taking a sauna are:

Do not pre-dry (delays sweating).enter exhaustedor (harms health).feeling hungry (danger of collapse) or take it in full digestion.To talk a lot (loads breathing and circulation and reduces relaxation).drink in the sauna (attenuates its cleansing effect).Disregard the output. You have to cool off by breathing in the fresh air. Then a cold shower is taken, starting with the areas far from the heart, and we submerge ourselves in cold water. It concludes with a hot foot bath up to the height of the ankles.

6. Sweat in menopause balances

There are times of life such as menopause in which sweat is produced as a way to rebalance the body. The hot flushes They constitute an important part of this balance and in many cultures they are well seen and valued as something physiological and healthy.

In our culture hot flashes have even been considered a pathological reaction, being recommended for a long time estrogenic medication to eliminate them.

At present, the harmfulness of this medication and the importance of respecting hot flashes have been demonstrated, endorsing its detoxifying effect and also the antitumor effect Which they exert.