Does Sweating Really Remove Toxins?

It’s a hot summer day and you just started your weekly run. All is good until you start feeling that slimy wet drizzle run down your back. Taunting you. They’ve also started invading your chest, your legs and have finally taken over your whole body. It’s sweat. One of those weird, seemingly unnecessary body functions that constantly keeps you alive.

Sweat plays an important role in thermoregulation, meaning it helps to keep the internal body at a stable temperature when it starts overheating. Sweating also occurs even if you’re running in cold temperatures as the energy needed to exert oneself causes the mitochondria (energy work house in our cells) to work harder to meet the demands of oxygen and glucose. As the cells break down ATP for energy, they release heat. The hypothalamus which acts as the thermoregulator in the body sends signals to the sympathetic nervous system to trigger the sweat glands in the skin. Sodium and chloride (both electrolytes working to balance acids and bases in the body) are then moved in the sweat tubules creating high salt levels in tubes. Water is pulled into the tube by osmosis and water pressure pushes the salty fluid up the sweat gland tract onto the surface of the skin. Sweat collects heat from the body and then is evaporated, releasing the heat.

What Else Makes Us Sweat

Eating spicy food can trigger the same thermoregulation receptors in the brain that respond to increased heat.

Sweating can also be triggered by the fight/flight response that occurs during stressful scenarios. Adrenaline that is released during stressful conditions causes muscle activation and also causes vasodilation of vessels which both increase heat in body.

Sweating can occur when you’re sick. The infections trigger the hypothalamus to increase muscle activity which increases body temperature making the body less habitable for the invaders. Once the threat has subsided the hypothalamus triggers reduction of heat.

Does Sweat Get Rid of Toxins

Now this is a difficult question to answer. There are several conflicting opinions on this topic. Tons of research papers and blogs focus on the fact that metals and toxins are mainly removed from our kidneys and liver. They don’t flat out say that toxins can’t ever be removed from our sweat but state the amounts are incredibly scant. However, a 2022 study with an admittedly small study size of 12 young students found that exercising on a treadmill significantly “released” more metals from the body than simply sweating in a sauna. The paper states the two main ways of removing toxic metals from the body are through urine and sweat. 57.3 mean micrograms per unit of nickel were discovered in those who worked out on a treadmill vs the 5.2 mean micrograms found in those who sat in a sauna and sweat. For lead the results were 52.8 mcg mean when exercising and 4.9 mcg when sitting in sauna. Copper was 206.6 mcg mean micrograms when exercising and 159.4 mcg when siting in the sauna. Arsenic was 2.9 mean mcg when exercising and 2.1 mcg when sitting in a sauna. Finally, mercury was the least moved with 0.3 mcg found in those who exercised and 0.2 mcg mean for those who sat in sauna.

Another paper states that BPA or bisphenol A (an industrial chemical used to make polycarbonate plastics since the 1950s) could also be found in sweat. BPA was found to leak out of plastics and cause chromosomal anomalies in lab animals. The study was done on 10 healthy individuals and 10 individuals with an assortment of health conditions. It compared BPA found in blood, urine and sweat to test if increased sweating could remove bisphenol A from the system. The study had individuals collect their urine/sweat (sweat during exercise or from sauna) and their blood was collected. The results revealed that often times BPA wasn’t found in the blood at all but it could be found in higher amounts in the urine and was almost always found in the sweat in exception of 4 people out of the 20. In some case where BPA wasn’t found in blood or urine, it was found in sweat which indicated to researchers that there was a BPA accumulation, most likely in adipose tissue, that was not often times being addressed. This suggests that sweating can be another method of excreting such toxins beyond the kidneys ability.

With such small study sizes there’s always room for inaccuracies.

Conclusion

Sweating has a key role in thermoregulation and carries nutrients like sodium chloride and chemicals from the interstitial fluid and the eccrine gland. The jury is still out in terms of how much metals/toxins are filtered out of the body during perspiration but there has been clear evidence that toxins and metals have been seen in sweat. Working out is an amazing way to improve circulation, and lower resting heart rate. So whether sweat releases tons of toxins or a minimal amount it’s still worth the try!

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