Sweat out the myth!

Imagine if we could just sweat out all our excess fat every summer which would keep us slim-trim till the next summer and this cycle would repeat! And in between you can eat all that you want! There’s nothing wrong with imagining, is there? Well, not every thing can be that simple! That’s no fun!!!

There seems to be a wide-held notion that if you sweat more means that you are burning more calories, and the reverse – that if you don’t sweat much means that you are not burning enough calories.

From last week’s discussion, sweating is a mechanism to control the body temperature. When your body temperature starts rising, sweating helps to cool it down. However, most of the water content of the sweat comes from the water present in blood. Remember, blood has high content of water. It is this water that is lost due to sweating, and nothing else. Fat deposits are not exactly vascular unlike muscles and even then sweating does not in any way indicate fat is burning or your losing muscle, as some people think!

That is why, the moment you drink water, this water content in the blood is replaced and your weight back is to normal! Hence the ineffectiveness of sauna and steam in long-term weight loss.

You can, not sweat much and still burn calories. The process of burning calories does generate heat but depending on your body’s thermoregulation system you may or may not sweat accordingly.
However, the problem arises only in case the thermoregulation system is not functioning optimally, and the all the heat generated has no means to dissipate.

Moreover, sweating helps in flushing out the toxins from the body and leaves you glowing and feeling fresh! Remember to carry a napkin and wear sweat or cotton absorbent materials to increase the comfort while working out.