The Benefits of Sweating!
What Is Sweat For, Anyway?
We don't tend to think of sweat as a good thing. It causes discomfort, a less than appealing feel to our skin and of course, it usually doesn't smell so great either. However, sweating is something which is all part of staying healthy and it's normal to sweat when you exercise. Why? Well let's start with. . .
The Benefits of Drinking Water for your Health
Water is something which we absolutely can't live without; we can live far longer without food than we can without water, in fact.
Water is one of the building blocks of our tissues, helps the body move nutrients to where they are needed (since water is one of the components of our blood).
The health benefits of water are impossible to ignore. Without water, we'd be nothing more than a few pounds of chemicals!
However, one of the most important things which water does for us is to help us regulate our body temperature.
Homeostasis refers to the natural equilibrium of our biochemical processes and everything else which keeps us alive. Body temperature is one of the elements which make up this vital balance. If our body temperatures rise too high, fever and heat stroke can result. Chills happen when our body temperature dips too low. Fever and chills are both signals that our bodies are not in that ideal balance of homeostasis.
Everything which happens in our body needs to happen under very specific conditions which include our internal temperature. When your body temperature strays from that ideal range, all manner of problems begin to crop up.
But Weren't We Talking About Sweat?
Sweating is not the way that we keep the appropriate levels of fluid in our 
bodies (that's urination's job). However, sweating is the way that we keep our body temperature steady. When we exercise, we produce heat – which naturally, increases body temperature.
Our bodies are always trying to maintain that delicate homeostatic balance. In terms of temperature, this is about 98.6 F (37 C). When we sweat, we place the task of cooling down those internal temperatures on the outside of our body – the skin.
As you may remember from high school physics, a warmer body will tend to lose heat to cooler ones. When our body temperature gets high enough, we sweat and air molecules take on some of the heat energy from our bodies. As our sweat cools, so does our body temperature.
Basically, what has happened is that the excess of heat inside of the body has been moved to the skin on the outside of the body - the same principle that an air conditioner works on in fact. This lets us maintain our normal internal temperature at around 98.6F
Breathing and even exposure to the air normally takes care of temperature regulation. However, when we're physically active, sweat comes into play. It's a much more efficient way to cool off, given that water is a much better conductor of heat than is air.
Even though sweating may not be the most desirable thing you can think of, you should give thanks for your sweat glands. The benefits of sweating are tenfold. After all, it's much better to sweat, than to not possess these glands - (like, say your dog) and have to pant your way through exercise and summer heat!
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