Bathed in sweat!
These facts about sweating will help you through the summer
Sweating can severely impair everyday well-being.
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Sweating can impair well-being, but it is essential for life. But what else is normal? The facts at a glance.
When the clothes are soaked, the fun stops for most people. Especially in summer, many people can’t stop sweating. The moisture on the skin is a natural and important process of the body for everyone.
The Deutsche Apothekerzeitung also describes this phenomenon as the “body’s own air conditioning system”. Because only through sweating does the body cool down naturally. This is ensured by up to four million sweat glands all over the body, which produce at least 200 milliliters of sweat every day. An adult sweats an average of 0.5 to 1.5 liters per day. However, this amount can vary due to factors such as physical activity, ambient temperature, and predisposition.
Do men sweat more than women?
Predispositions also lead to what is probably the biggest sweating myth, for example that men sweat more than women. But that’s not true: in 2017, one published in the journal “Experimental Physiology” refuted it University of Wollongong study this assumption – drop by drop. The amount of sweat does not depend on gender, but on body size. The Australian research team studied a total of 36 men and 24 women with similar levels of fitness and health, but very different body sizes. According to the study, the differences are only less than five percent due to gender.
According to Professor Nigel AS Taylor of the University of Wollongong, there are two ways the body can cool down: by sweating or by increasing blood flow to the skin’s surface. The study shows that short people tend to choose the second path, while tall people sweat more.
Sweaty Fear: Too much is too much
In medicine, sweating is also considered in two categories: thermal and emotional sweating. While thermal sweating serves to regulate body temperature naturally, emotional sweating is associated with inner restlessness or stress. In some cases, this can lead to hyperhidrosis. For example, the so-called sweating disease (hyperhidrosis) causes excessive sweating, even in cool environments, a strong odor or cracked skin. In individual cases, hyperhidrosis also leads to psychological stress. In these cases, those affected should always consult a doctor who can recommend suitable treatment options.
The right scent: deodorants, antiperspirants and co.
On the other hand, if you sweat normally, you can get by with a deodorant or antiperspirant. Sweat itself does not have an unpleasant smell. Only when bacteria break down the sweat does the typical acrid body odor develop. Deodorants and creams inhibit bacterial growth, antiperspirants reduce odor and even moisture. Because they contain aluminum chloride, which closes the sweat glands. The European Food Safety Authority has set a limit for the weekly intake of aluminum. However, more recent studies show that absorption of aluminum through the skin is unlikely as confirmed by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment.
Experts generally recommend healthy and gentle personal hygiene and airy clothing, especially in summer, to minimize the build-up of odours. With a little deodorant and a change of clothes to be on the safe side, nothing should go wrong.