7 Benefits of a Good Sweat
July 16, 2018When people tell you not to sweat it, they are missing the point. Sweat is good. Here are 7 reasons why you should reap the benefits of a good sweat!
When I was a kid, and someone asked me to do something that was relatively easy, I would typically respond, “No sweat.” As an adult, my children gave me a book for one of my birthdays, titled “Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff – And It’s All Small Stuff.” It was a good read, but really . . . not everything is small, and some things are supposed to make you sweat. In our culture sweating is considered poor form, and to some it’s even gross. But sweat is a vital part of our health.
The skin is the largest organ in the human body, and a normal person has between 2–4 million sweat glands, with women averaging more than men. Any number of things can cause a person to sweat: summer temperatures, physical exertion, emotional stress, fevers, and even spicy foods. Have you eaten a jalapeno lately? But, chances are, if you don’t exercise regularly, you probably don’t sweat much. That’s a shame because there are so many benefits to a good sweat!
Temperature Regulation through Evaporation: Sweating is the way that the body keeps itself from overheating. Without sweating, heat stroke and heat exhaustion would be a constant danger.
Weight Loss: Sweating by itself burns up to 300 calories an hour, for instance on a hot day or in a sauna bath. That is in addition to the number of calories burned by an activity you may be participating in. There's an old, politically incorrect statement that says, “You have to sweat like a pig to look like a fox.” You may have seen the t-shirt some wear around that states, “Sweat is just fat crying”. It still matters what and how much you eat. You want to keep a clean diet.
Cleanse: Sweating unclogs the pores and flushes toxins and impurities out of the system even faster than the kidneys. The more often you sweat, the less offensive your odor is.
Lower Blood Pressure: As little as one hour of exercise-induced sweat per week can lower blood pressure and improve mood by releasing the feel-good hormone endorphins that give you the famous “runners high.” I recently ran in a mountain 10K race, and about a mile from the end was a sign that said: “There's only sweat between you and the finish line.”
Infection fighter: Sweating secretes small amounts of an antibiotic called Dermcidin that helps combat infection.
Boosts immune system: Sweat purifies the blood and lymph systems.
Fights Illness: Most bacteria and microbes can only live in a very narrow temperature band. The body creates a fever to burn out the offending organism and then returns to normal. Causing the body to sweat creates a temporary artificial fever; which, if done daily, can keep the bad bugs in check before they can cause any problems.
Sweating does a body good. So, invest sweat equity in your health: walk, peddle, run, yoga, and sauna till it flows. Go sweat, perspire, and glisten for your health!