7 Convincing Health Benefits of Sweating | Herbal Goodness

Don’t sweat the small stuff, but do sweat out the toxic stuff!

If you want to detox, your skin has an uncanny ability to help you rid your body of toxic overload.

Most people don’t think of the skin itself as an organ, but it is one, and an important aspect of the physiology to help boost your health in numerous ways.

While you can practice dry-brushing or sit in a far infrared sauna to help detox through your skin, a good old-fashioned sweat is one of the best ways (and cheapest) to utilize your skin’s ability to bolster health and vitality.

We sweat to keep our body in homeostasis. If we didn’t sweat, we’d overheat when we are working out. Increased circulation caused by sweating and the removal of toxic buildup in our blood is one of the first benefits of sweating but there are many more. 

Health Benefits of Sweating

Here are 7 ways that sweating is good for you:

  1. Sweating Boosts Endorphins. Endorphins are feel-good chemicals released from our bodies under certain circumstances: exercise, sex, and interacting with others in a positive social environment all cause our bodies to release them. Endorphins make us happy and can even reduce physical pain.[1] Sweating in particular – not just getting exercise – causes us to release more of these amazing chemicals.[2] 

 

  1. Sweating Reduces Toxins. Sweating allows bioaccumulated toxins (that is, toxins which tend to accumulate over time due to metabolic processes, and environmental exposure) to be released from the body. Our food and water alone contain thousands of chemical toxins, and sweating is one of the best ways to get rid of them. To get extra toxin-offloading from your sweat, drink papaya leaf juice prior to your workout. It helps to detox the liver, which is another major detoxifying organ.[3]

 

  1. Even a Mild Sweat Reduces Kidney Troubles. Let’s say you don’t have the time or energy to do a major sweat-inducing cardiovascular workout. Try just going for a walk. One study found that even a few short walks a week can reduce the incidence of kidney troubles. [4]

 

  1. Sweating is Antimicrobial. It boosts your immunity to viruses, bacteria, fungi, and other foreign pathogens. Your sweat also contains specific antimicrobial peptides.[5]

 

  1. Sweating Can Clear Up Acne-Prone Skin. When we sweat, we flush our pores of toxic build up, thus making the bacteria that causes acne go bye-bye. If you want great skin, exercise more! [6]

 

  1. Your Sweat Glands Help Heal Wounds. By sweating regularly, we help to unclog the sweat glands which are directly connected to wound healing. [7]

 

  1. Sweating May Help Grow Your Brain. Harvard Medical School has found that regular, sweat-inducing aerobic exercise can enlarge the hippocampus, the part of your brain that responds to verbal memory and learning. [8]

With astounding benefits that are both mental and physical, make sure you get a good sweat in at least 5 times a week.

 

 REFERENCES:

[1] How to Boost Endorphins Naturally | Reader's Digest. (2018, August 20). Retrieved from https://www.rd.com/health/wellness/natural-endorphin-boosters/

[2] Cohen, E. E., Ejsmond-Frey, R., Knight, N., & Dunbar, R. I. (2009). Rowers' high: behavioural synchrony is correlated with elevated pain thresholds. Biology Letters6(1), 106-108. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2009.0670

[3] Pandey, S., Walpole, C., Cabot, P. J., Shaw, P. N., Batra, J., & Hewavitharana, A. K. (2017). Selective anti-proliferative activities of Carica papaya leaf juice extracts against prostate cancer. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy89, 515-523. doi:10.1016/j.biopha.2017.02.050

[4] Ryan, M. (2014). Faculty of 1000 evaluation for Activity, Energy Intake, Obesity, and the Risk of Incident Kidney Stones in Postmenopausal Women: A Report from the Women's Health Initiative. F1000 - Post-publication peer review of the biomedical literature. doi:10.3410/f.718206719.793491073

[5] Bevins, C. (2001). Faculty of 1000 evaluation for Dermcidin: a novel human antibiotic peptide secreted by sweat glands. F1000 - Post-publication peer review of the biomedical literature. doi:10.3410/f.1002733.18907

[6] Ireland, K. (2011, June 22). Does Exercise Reduce Acne? Retrieved from https://www.livestrong.com/article/476350-does-exercise-reduce-acne/

[7] Rittié, L., Sachs, D. L., Orringer, J. S., Voorhees, J. J., & Fisher, G. J. (2013). Eccrine Sweat Glands are Major Contributors to Reepithelialization of Human Wounds. The American Journal of Pathology182(1), 163-171. doi:10.1016/j.ajpath.2012.09.019

[8] Godman, H. (2018, April 5). Regular exercise changes the brain to improve memory, thinking skills - Harvard Health Blog. Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/regular-exercise-changes-brain-improve-memory-thinking-skills-201404097110