411 on sweating

Sweating can be a touchy subject for most people, especially for those that suffer from excessive sweating. However, we should all find comfort in knowing that sweating is an essential process that cleanses our body of bacteria.

There’s a lot that people don’t know about sweating, so we’ve put together these facts so people can understand it better.

1. Did you know that babies sweat a lot? This is because they can’t control their body temperature.

2. Men sweat up to twice as much as women.

3. There are two main types of sweat glands: apocrine glands and eccrine glands. Eccrine glands are found all over the skin and apocrine glands are associated with hair follicles and are found in our underarm and genital region. They are both largely stimulated by heat.

4. You sweat less as you age. This is because your eccrine glands (the major sweat glands of the human body) shrink and become less sensitive as you get older.

5. You sweat more in Summer because your body reacts to the hot temperatures by releasing sweat, which is your body’s way of cooling down.

6. AnhidrosisOpens in a new window is the inability to sweat because your sweat glands are no longer functioning properly. It can affect scattered areas of your body, a single part, or your entire body. This condition is dangerous because it puts you at risk of overheating.

7. HyperhidrosisOpens in a new window causes a person to sweat excessively and unpredictably because they have overactive sweat glands. This condition can be psychologically damaging.

8. Despite popular belief, most of your sweat doesn’t come from your underarms. It comes from your body.

9. Someone that runs for long distances can sweat up to 10 litres a day!

10. On average, people sweat 1 litre a day. But the average amount of underarm sweat that we produce a day is 6ml.

11. Sweat on its own is odourless — it’s bacteria that gives it a stench. Bacteria feed on our sweat and release an unpleasant smell widely known as body odour.

12. What you eat and drink can impact how much you sweat. Foods and drinks that can increase sweating are spicy foods, coffee, alcohol and processed foods.

An effective antiperspirant such as ShieldOpens in a new window can reduce sweat and combat body odour. Try out Shield Germ DefenceOpens in a new window range to give you 10 times more protection against odour-causing germs.