They say men sweat and women glow, but however you refer to perspiration it’s a natural by-product of exercise, stress, spicy food and hot weather. Most people want to avoid sweating for obvious reasons. Yet raising your core temperature to kick start the body’s cooling system on a regular basis has a whole heap of health benefits. How rapidly a body produces sweat varies from person to person. Typically the fitter person perspires more readily as the body becomes more efficient at generating and managing heat. So sweating during exercise is not an indicator of poor fitness, it’s actually the opposite.
There are also an increasing number of exercises and activities that actually encourage the production of body heat like HIIT classes and others that subject the body to heat like hot Yoga which if practised regularly will streamline the production of sweat. But what are the benefits of sweating?
1. Sweat defends the body against germs
It’s not all about what the body omits, sweat glands also serve a protective function. They excrete an antibiotic called Dermicidin that protects you from viruses, bacteria and fungi throughout the day.
2. Sweat helps you heal
Recent research has discovered that sweat production also fast tracks the healing of abrasions on the skin. This is a fairly recent discovery and more studies are underway. One of the reasons so little is known in this area is that animals don’t sweat so lab studies involving them have not been able to consider the role of sweat.
3. Sweating bypasses the kidneys in the expulsion of toxins
Sweat contains a whole variety of things – water and sodium (salt) being the most obvious. It also transports toxins out of the system through the skin that would otherwise be processed by other organs such as the kidneys. By ridding the body of salt and calcium through the skin you are reducing your chances of developing kidney stones.
4. Sweating improves the complexion
During the sweating process the pores of the skin open and the sweat passes through, taking with it any dirt trapped in the pores. This is great for the complexion as it can heal and prevent spots and pimples on the face and elsewhere!
5. A good sweat makes you feel good
When sweat is produced in the body so are endorphins, these are the feel-good hormones within us which also serve as pain inhibitors. So next time you get a sweat on don’t feel embarrassed, embrace the mood instead and enjoy the natural high. So next time you feel the temperature rising and your body responding as it should, don’t feel embarrassed remember all the good it’s doing you instead. Whatever you do, make sure you visit our online store where we sell all the sports and fitness gear you need to get sweating more!
