Sweat and toxins: For many years, in the common way of saying, the former was used to eliminate the latter. There is nothing more false. The fact that the cells of our body produce certain substances that must then be eliminated does not mean that this should happen with the droplets of liquid that our skin releases through the pores. We have debunked this myth together with Professor Daniela Lucini, Head of Exercise Medicine at Humanitas and lecturer at the University of Milan.
We only lose liquids and mineral salts when we sweat
Carbon dioxide and lactic acid are just two examples of substances that our body produces and of which it must then be liberal. However, this does not happen through sweat, but through complex processes of a completely different kind.
“When we sweat, we lose only liquids and mineral salts, which we then have to replenish as soon as possible – explains Lucini – the belief that sweating causes us to lose toxins has no scientific basis”.
Sweat, which can happen to have a pungent and unpleasant smell, is influenced by factors such as hormones, what you ate and individual personal characteristics. However, it is certainly not a sign of the presence of toxins.
The functions of sweat
Sweating has several functions. In addition to thermoregulating the body, it can be caused by an ongoing inflammatory process. Fever, flu, for example, can cause sweating, which in this case depends on the pathogens that inhabit our body at that time.
