I recently passed a mixed martial arts (MMA) test for advanced green belt (the next level is brown belt!) and to say I was sweaty afterwards is a huge understatement. 

I was telling all of my fellow MMA students after the test how my nickname in my prior 19 years of karate used to be “Sweaty Betty” and they got a big kick out of that!   

All kidding aside, whether we like it or not, everyone sweats from time to time and that’s a good thing, especially during exercise!  Sweating is how your body regulates your temperature and eliminates toxins. 

Since I don’t want to overheat during a workout, and I do want to purge toxins from my body, I see my sweating as a good thing—even though some people might call it gross ha ha.  

But is all sweat created equal?   

Well, not necessarily. 

Here are 6 different types of sweat and what they may be saying about you (and your health). 

1- You’re approaching menopause 

The hormonal changes associated with menopause can mess up your brain’s thermostat, making it think you’re overheating, which triggers your body into “cool down” mode, causing you to sweat like crazy (aka hot flashes). 

If you’ve been challenged with menopausal symptoms, then bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) can be a Godsend for you.   

Unlike synthetic drugs, BHRT works to help naturally reestablish the way your body sends messages to your tissues and organs to keep them healthy. 

The body has an easier time assimilating bio-identical hormones because they are identical in molecular structure to the hormones naturally made in your body. 

You’ll have to seek out a practitioner that does BHRT—and because it’s more of a holistic therapy, many mainstream doctors are not familiar with it, but it is growing in popularity! 

If you are in the New York metropolitan area, contact Dr. John Salerno at the Salerno Center for Complementary Medicine (my former doctor), and if you are near the Melbourne, FL area (where I am now!) make an appointment with Dr. Sergio Sobredo at Vitalifts (my current doctor).   

2- Your blood sugar may be low 

Excessive sweating can be a symptom of low blood sugar, along with cold, clammy skin, a rapid heartbeat, shakiness, nausea, dizziness, and blurred vision. 

If you’re prone to low blood sugar, try to even it out by having healthy snacks on hand like nuts, hard-boiled eggs, cheese or vegetables in between meals. 

At the same time, avoid quick fixes like crackers, chips or sugary foods.  While they may give you a fast sugar rush, you’ll quickly come crashing down again.   

3- You’re having medication side effects 

Medications taken for endocrine problems, diabetes, and thyroid disease can trigger excessive sweating.  So can certain high blood pressure drugs, as well as some antidepressants. 

If you’re on any of these types of medication and are suffering from excessive sweating, talk to your doctor about alternatives.   

For example, fish oil formulas like VitalMega-3 can be very helpful with high blood pressure and depression!  

4- You’re stressed 

The sweat your body produces in the normal act of cooling down is made by glands all over the body and contains mostly water and salt.  

But when you’re stressed, sweat is produced by glands found only in certain areas like your armpits.  This type of sweat contains fat and protein that interact with the bacteria on your skin and create the “wonderful” odor we affectionately call BO!   

Although stress is unavoidable at times, do your best to minimize its effect on you.  There are many ways to chill out including deep breathing, meditation, prayer, exercise, a warm bath, therapy, yoga and adopting a pet. 

You can also put the power of ashwagandha to work against your stress with our very own Ashwa Blend Gummies!  Ashwagandha has been shown in a mountain of studies to help your body counteract and mitigate the effects of stress.  

Stress also takes its toll on your gut microbiome, which can hamper your immune system functioning and lead to leaky gut. 

But a superior quality probiotic formula like Super Shield can help bring that back into balance for you. 

Super Shield’s unique full-spectrum blend of 13 probiotic strains can help repopulate your intestinal tract with the healthy-promoting friendly microbes your body so desperately needs. 

5- You may have a genetic issue 

If you’ve been prone to fishy-smelling body odor, there is a chance you may have a rare genetic condition called trimethylaminuria (also known as fish odor syndrome). 

With trimethylaminuria, your body can't break down the compound trimethylamine, which is produced from digestion of foods like eggs, legumes, and fish. Instead, your body sheds the trimethylamine through your urine, breath and sweat, producing an odor that smells fishy or like sulfur. 

Although there is no cure for trimethylaminuria, many people have seen improvement by avoiding the offending foods.  Your doctor can help guide you on this. 

6- You have a bad diet and poor digestion 

Your body is meant to be nourished by real foods-- vegetables, fruits, meats, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy and healthy fats like real butter, coconut oil and olive oil.  Your body’s enzymes break down each kind of food, it assimilates the nutrients, and any excess unusable residue is eliminated as your BMs. 

But when you instead exist mainly on highly processed, refined and fast foods that contain chemicals, preservatives and artificial ingredients, your body is not only NOT nourished like it needs to be, but it also must detox the chemicals out of you. 

This creates wastes that your body (especially your liver, kidneys and skin—your main organs of detox) has to get rid of…and that can create PUNGENT body odor. 

Plus poor digestion is another culprit that can give you nasty BO. 

When your digestion can't be accomplished like it should be, that can also lead to acid waste accumulation and have you smelling like Pepe Le Pew.   

One of the most common causes of poor digestion is lacking enzymes.  This especially affects people over age 50, people who have taken acid reducers and those who have had a not-so-healthy diet over the years. 

If you think enzymes could be an issue for you, I invite you to try our Digestizol Max enzyme formula! 

In addition to its effective blend of 15 plant-derived enzymes, it also contains soothing herbs (including ginger, coriander and fennel) which can help calm a cranky, inflamed digestive tract! 

Listen to what your sweat may be saying about you—you’ll end up healthier and feeling better as a result! 

To your health, 

Sherry Brescia