For better health, our approach to sweating should be focused on reducing stress, eating a healthy diet, balancing hormones, and making a habit of getting physically hotter as often as possible through moderate sun exposure, using a sauna and/or getting physical exercise.
Why Is It Important to Sweat?
One of the obvious reasons we need to sweat is to cool down our bodies so we don’t overheat. Imagine doing any exercise in the summer heat of the Carolinas if our bodies couldn’t cool themselves down? Another, maybe not as obvious reason, but very important for health, is to expel toxins. Sweating is one of the body’s major detox systems (the skin is our largest organ) and when working efficiently to expel toxins, it keeps the immune system strong to prevent disease. http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/research-confirms-sweating-detoxifies-dangerous-metals-petrochemicals
All Sweat Is Not Created Equal
It is normal and natural to sweat when you are physically hot, when you are exercising and when you are stressed. Sweat produced when you are physically hot and when you are exercising is different from the sweat produced when you are under stress. When you are physically hot and when you are exercising, the eccrine sweat glands produce sweat all over the body with this sweat containing mostly water and salt and producing little if any odor. When you are under stress, have hormonal imbalance or are anxious or afraid, the apocrine sweat glands found only in the armpits and groin, produce sweat that contains fat and protein and when mixed with bacteria on the skin produces body odor. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sweating-and-body-odor/basics/causes/con-20014438
Reducing stress, anxiety and fear and balancing hormones will help eliminate/minimize offensive body odor. If this type of sweat is minimized you will reduce your need for commercial deodorants which may contain harmful chemicals, some of which may contribute to hormonal imbalance by mimicking estrogen in the body. No one should be using antiperspirants because they are designed to prevent sweating and most have aluminum in them which may increase your risk for breast cancer.
Eat Healthy to Minimize Body Odor
If the sweat when you are physically hot or when you are exercising has an odor, it may be just you (genetics) or it may be what you are eating. Spicy foods, caffeinated drinks, alcoholic beverages, sugar, processed foods and red meat (because the body has to work harder to digest it) may be the culprits. Even though foods containing sulfur, like those in the cabbage family (cruciferous vegetables) and in garlic and onions, may cause temporary body odor, these are very important foods to consume for good health and good breast health. The type of sulfur in these foods is called sulforaphane, an antioxidant that may reduce your risk of breast cancer. The best foods to eat to neutralize bacteria are green vegetables, all of which contain chlorophyll which acts as a cleanser and deodorizer in the body.
When You Don’t Sweat Enough…
Those of us who don’t sweat enough need to be more conscientious about sweating for better health. Make a habit of getting physically hot by getting out in the sun or using a sauna (a far infrared sauna expedites the removal of toxins). Equally important is exercising enough to break a good, dripping sweat, reducing stress, balancing hormones and eating a healthy diet.
