Sweat and sweating play a fundamental role for our body.
Sweating happens in two ways: normal sweating, produced by the sweat glands to regulate the body, and abnormal sweating, which occurs in certain conditions such as anxiety, fatigue or illness.
There are two types of sweat glands, eccrine and apocrine, and consequently two types of sweat.
Apocrine glands are concentrated only in certain parts of the body, such as the armpits, genitals and scalp, and can be stimulated by stress or emotions. They produce little sweat, and its composition is responsible for unpleasant odours once bacteria break it down.
Eccrine glands, estimated at between 2 and 4 million, are spread throughout the middle layer of the skin. Women have more of them, but men’s glands produce more sweat. They are concentrated on the forehead, scalp, armpits, palms of the hands and soles of the feet.
The sweat produced by the eccrine glands to regulate body temperature or during physical activity is a slightly acidic liquid, made up mainly of water in which organic substances (such as urea, uric acid, creatinine and lactic acid) and inorganic substances (such as sodium chloride, sulphates, phosphates and heavy metals) are dissolved. Exposure to heavy metals is now constant.
These pollutants have no physiological benefit for the human body, and no one is free from them.
To restore the body’s wellbeing, their presence needs to be kept to a minimum. The concentration of these metals is often higher in sweat than in blood, and we can say that sweating is the body’s most effective way to detoxify.
The gentle warmth of far infrared penetrates the body’s tissues and raises core body temperature, producing intense sweating and an increase in heart rate – reactions similar to those caused by moderate exercise.
For a general overview you can read the Wikipedia article on perspiration. Discover our far infrared saunas.
