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Volume 5 Issue 1

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Swea ng is a natural, essen al body process designed to help your body stay cool. But some may wonder whether it's beneficial to encourage your body to sweat more for reasons beyond temperature control. The New York Times recently published an ar cle that concluded "swea ng, per se, provides no health benefits" aside from preven ng overhea ng, but I, and many other experts, believe there's far more to the story than this. Why Sweating Is Important You have two different types of sweat glands: eccrine sweat glands, which are distributed over your en re body, and apocrine sweat glands, located on your scalp, armpits, and genital area. While abhorred by many, swea ng actually has numerous health- and beauty-related benefits. Your skin is the largest organ of your body, and serves important roles just like any other bodily organ. For example, swea ng helps your body: • Maintain proper temperature and keep you from overhea ng • Expel toxins, which supports proper immune func on and helps prevent diseases related to toxic overload • Kill viruses and bacteria that cannot survive in temperatures above 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit • Clean the pores, which will help eliminate blackheads and acne Interes ngly, you're born with anywhere between 2 million and 4 million sweat glands, and the number of such glands you have will determine, in part, how much you sweat. While women generally have more sweat glands than men, men's glands tend to be more ac ve and produce more sweat. As your body temperature rises, your body will automa cally perspire to release salty liquid from your sweat glands to help cool you down. This is controlled by your autonomic nervous system, which you cannot consciously control. However, certain emo ons, such as anxiety, anger, embarrassment, or fear, can prompt you to sweat more. Since exercise raises your body temperature, swea ng associated with exercise is a sign that you're exer ng yourself and gaining the many benefits that exercise has to offer. However, swea ng in and of itself may also be beneficial. Sweating May Fight Skin Infections Via Antimicrobial Properties and Reduce Kidney Stones Dermcidin is an an microbial pep de with a broad spectrum of ac vity that is expressed in eccrine sweat glands and secreted into sweat. In the average healthy person, research shows that swea ng leads to a reduc on of viable bacteria on your skin surface, which may lower your risk of skin infec ons. In fact, one study suggested that people with atopic derma s, who have recurrent bacterial or viral skin infec ons, may be lacking dermcidin in their sweat, which may impair the innate defense system in human skin. Research has also shown that people who exercise, and therefore sweat more, have a lower risk of kidney stones. One reason for this may be because they sweat out more salt, rather than having it go into the kidneys where it may contribute to stone forma on. People who sweat more also tend to drink more water, which is another way to lower your risk of kidney stones. Sweating May Help Your Body Detoxify Your skin is a major organ of elimina on, but many people do not sweat on a regular basis. This is why repeated use of a sweat-inducing sauna slowly restores skin elimina on, Is it Good to Sweat? By Dr. Mercola Abby's Magazine -Volume 5 Issue 1 | Page 31

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