# Sweating and health **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 10, 2003, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweating-and-health/160224 "2003-03-10T04:12:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fuel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df705f/32.png) [@Fuel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuel)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweating-and-health/160224/1 "2003-03-10T04:12:09Z")
I’ve heard that most people who break a sweat easily are healthier than others. Is this true and why? Is it merely because those people are more hydrated or is the answer more complex than that? ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweating-and-health/160224/2 "2003-03-10T06:42:28Z")
Actually, I’ve heard the opposite. Someone who is in bad shape will easily break a sweat, while somebody in better shape will require more effort before the body is heated enough to need to sweat. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweating-and-health/160224/3 "2003-03-10T06:52:56Z")
I dunno **HPL** - sweating is the body’s way of cooling. Those who’s bodies are the most efficient sweat faster and therefore stay cooler. ---
**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweating-and-health/160224/4 "2003-03-10T07:09:07Z")
OK my turn… If your body is more effcient will it not take _longer_ to break a sweat. i.e. your expending less energy climbing a hill than a overweight person. If your sweating faster your burning more energy to walk the same hill, therefore less efficient no? ---
**Author:** ![Standup\_Karmic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Standup\_Karmic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Standup_Karmic)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweating-and-health/160224/5 "2003-03-10T07:35:07Z")
I can’t add squat to this except… When I go dancing, I get sweaty very fast, especially the back of my neck and my brow. It’s sweaty enough to make it look like I just doused my head in water. I’m not in exceptional shape, but not bad (so long as I’m not wearing tight clothing, you probably can’t tell I have a gut without looking real close). I am a smoker, but I am not really out of breath after a couple of songs. I could probably stay on the dance floor three times longer if I didn’t have to go towel off. Please make my sweating stop. It’s kinda gross. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweating-and-health/160224/6 "2003-03-10T08:15:30Z")
> [@](#): > > _from [**"You Are How You Feel"**](http://www.craighospital.org/SCI/METS/howYouFeel.asp)_ > **Feeling generally healthy does not mean having perfect health. In our study of people with spinal cord injury, many of the same people who reported feeling generally healthy had one or more health problems. Some were minor, like excess sweating, some were major, like chest pain. For some reason, these people still felt healthy.** So, if sweating is bad, it is still just a minor problem. ---
**Author:** ![MrO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@MrO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrO)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweating-and-health/160224/7 "2003-03-10T12:33:59Z")
Thanks for that link, **kniz**. I’ve been struggling with a spinal cord injury, the “incomplete” kind, for nearly 4 years now. I’m always happy to find more information about it, and that site has some. About the OP, I wouldn’t presume to guess, since I’m not medically trained. I do know that even when I was in my physical prime, a lean, active, 6’ 1", 145-pound long distance runner, with a resting heart rate of about 1 beat a minute (okay, I made that up), I always sweated like a mule when I was active. Now, 20 years and 25 pounds (more or less) later, I’m a lot less active, and I still sweat easily. I’ve known people who seemed to be in worse shape than me, and some sweat less, and others more. I’ve known people who seemed to be in better shape, and some sweat less, and others more. In other words, I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![Tal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/54ee81/32.png) [@Tal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tal)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweating-and-health/160224/8 "2003-03-10T16:17:43Z")
if you sweat excessively, you should be asking your doc why ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweating-and-health/160224/9 "2003-03-10T19:12:55Z")
See Covert Bailey’s Fit or Fat, he talks about this. ---
**Author:** ![Fuel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df705f/32.png) [@Fuel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuel)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweating-and-health/160224/10 "2003-03-11T03:45:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by muttrox \* > \*\*See Covert Bailey’s Fit or Fat, he talks about this. \*\* Could you break down his thoughts for me? I don’t plan on buying his book and i will not be able to make it to a bookstore for another several days (busy) and i don’t think his book is online… Obviously excessive sweating is unhealthy, or at least certainly not a sign of good health. That’s definately not what i am talking about here. Just breaking a nice, average sweat whenever you step on the basketball court to shoot around, or something along those lines. (warming up before playing tennis) ---
**Author:** ![Race\_Bannon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Race\_Bannon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Race_Bannon)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweating-and-health/160224/11 "2003-03-11T12:21:51Z")
My experience. Ten years ago, I was a couch potato with a desk job. Anytime I did anything mildly strenuous, I’d start sweating. I was this way from childhood. Now, I exercise regularly, and am signed up for my third marathon. I’m in probably the best shape of my life. Still, whenever I start exercising, within 5 minutes I’ll have sweat running off my head. I don’t think that breaking a sweat has any correlation with my level of fitness. I ran a recent half marathon in 40 degree weather, and my shirt was wet with sweat while others in the race looked dry and fresh. FWIW, I’ll also break into sweat from eating spicy foods. ---
**Author:** ![Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myron_Van_Horowitzski)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweating-and-health/160224/12 "2003-03-11T14:32:14Z")
Isn’t there a difference between sweating from effort and sweating from heat? I’m sensitive to heat and humidity; I literally drip. On the other hand, I don’t sweat much when working out (unless it’s hot) ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sweating-and-health/160224/13 "2003-03-11T19:02:48Z")
There are indeed differences among individuals in how much they sweat. I don’t know what all the variables are, but I always assumed that since sweat is a natural cooling system, people whose bodies are optimized for warmer climates would tend to sweat more. I seem to be one data point supporting this: my ancestry is predominantly Mediterranean. I run 3 miles (in under 22 minutes) several times a week, but I sweat more than most people I know.