How Does Sweating Cool You Down? - Natures Portable Air Conditioning Unit by Lynsey Carter

Think about those times when you exercise, or those other times when you have been feeling quite hot and overheated, your body will begins to excrete a liquid out of most of the pores on your skin. You ask yourself, why does this happen to me? The liquid coming out of your pores is what is called 'sweat'. If you don't sweat, you were either born a pig or you could very easily cook yourself to death, inside your very own skin. Not too nice eh? So why does your sweating cool you down?

Sweating, sometimes profusely when you are exercising hard, is the most natural and genetic way that your body has to cool itself down. How does this all work, you ask? Simply put though, by sweating, your body is reacting as a natural air conditioner. Everyone knows that sweating normally is not an attractive look, and it isn't the greatest smelling past-times either, but you really need to sweat to survive. So, don't ask why sweating cools you down, instead ask how you can control it, make it smell nice, all-the-time embracing sweat as just another natural and essential bodily function.

Some Of The Children's Questions

Children are the most innocent of beings and they always ask the most straight-forward questions, not always tactful or nice, some will bring a smile to your face, but normally just straight-to-the-point. Part of their education, especially when they are at home with mum and dad, is for you to not let them to be totally grossed out by sweat. They will not probably sweat whilst still quite young but they will notice their parents sweating, hopefully. It may be embarrassing for you as a parent when awful sweat stains mar your clothes, and it may not make you smell like a bad of roses, but if kids should ask "Why does sweating cool you down?", you can tell them, educate them from an early age, that sweating is a natural and healthy thing to happen. You can also teach them that sweat is controllable with some deodorant or other products that you may use, products to make you feel fresh and smell sweet.

There Could Be A Downside Though

Of course there could! Unfortunately for us, and our sweating, we can become severely dehydrated when we sweat too much. This can happen if we exercise way too long or too hard, because as we sweat to cool ourselves down from exercising we can also lose too much of the water component that constitutes most of our body's makeup.

Our bodies contain more than seventy percent of water, this is why many doctors and health professionals insist that we must drink plenty of water daily, especially while exercising, to help keep our bodies running at peak efficiency. That is when our bodies need to have sufficient water to sweat out to keep us cool.

Please do not be afraid of when you sweat. When your kids ask about you sweating, tell them the truth, and approach sweating as a very necessary and natural thing. And then you won't be ashamed or worried when you lift your arms, even though you could be all sweaty and smelly.

All you are doing is allowing your body to cool down. It is what our bodies were designed to do, we are a 'perfectly designed' self-cooling machine. Now to me, what is more beautiful or perfect than that? And in some cultures it is considered sensual, think about that too!

Copyright (c) 2010 Lynsey Carter