Many people don't like to perspire as sweat makes them feel sticky and uncomfortable; sweat may not smell good and could leave some undesirable stains on our clothes. But sweating or perspiration is essential to good health and fitness, especially during exercise; it serves as a biological cleaning system for our body.
You see we drink water for many important physiological functions; water helps cells and tissues to transport important elements or compounds such as sodium and sugar throughout our body. Water also helps blood flow and provides structural cohesion and lubrication between all important body parts. It also helps control the temperature in our body.
The human body temperature helps regulate its internal environment so as to maintain a stable and constant condition. When body temperature gets too high, we'll experience fever and ultimately heat stroke. If it's too low, we'll feel cold. The body's ability to regulate its internal physiology to maintain stability in response to fluctuations in the outside environment is known as 'Homeostasis'.
For example, perspiration has a huge effect on body temperature, especially during exercise. As we exercise, chemical reactions speed up and mechanical motion is taking place in our body. These activities produce heat energy that moves from inside the body to the outside, along the surface of the skin, carried along with our sweat, which in turn raises our body temperature. Sweating also plays a small role in keeping the amount of body fluid in homeostasis or equilibrium.
Our body is constantly seeking homeostasis; an inability to maintain homeostasis may lead to disease, a condition known as homeostatic imbalance. Diseases which result from a homeostatic imbalance include diabetes, dehydration, hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, gout and any disease caused by the presence of a toxin in the bloodstream.
As you can see, our body must always maintain its equilibrium in order to function properly. Exercise and sweating definitely help our body to achieve that; that's the reason why we're often advised to exercise regularly.
If you can't remember or understand what has been discussed so far, just remember one thing: "Exercise and sweating not only can help keep us fit and healthy but more importantly, they also help regulate and maintain an equilibrium in our body".