We all sweat every day, but what exactly is sweat? Sweat is a watery blend of urea, sugar, salt and ammonia that comes from your skin pores. Most people think they lose weight while they sweat, but you regain this weight as soon as you rehydrate yourself. The real weight loss depends on what is actually making you sweat, like a rigorous exercise routine, etc.
Sweat's function and structure
There are 2-4 million sweat glands buried in the lower layers of the skin. These sweat glands continuously secrete electrolyte and water to the skin's surface. Your palms and soles are densely packed with sweat glands, approximately 3,000 per square inch. Even your armpits and genitals are densely packed with these glands, as they help regulate your body temperature. When the body temperature rises, you sweat glands release sweat, which cools your body by evaporation. Apocrine sweat glands are located near your hair follicles and several other areas. These sweat glands are triggered by emotional stress.
Sweating and weight loss
Different people differ on how much they sweat. On an average, an adult produces 1 to 1.5 pounds of sweat every day. But it obviously depends and differs according to the climate you live in, how much you exercise, and how much water you drink. And as we have mentioned above, weight loss through sweat is water weight and thus, it contributes a negligible amount to your actual weight loss.
Temporary weight loss
Sweating can help you accelerate temporary weight loss. Many athletes wear sweatsuits, sit for hours in the sauna and wear the garbage bag to lose weight. Exercising every day is what you should rely on if you truly want to lose weight. Count on your sweat only to cool you down, but not slim you down.