Did you know that your body has two different kinds of sweat glands? And that one of them excretes a very pungent odor and the other doesn’t?
It’s true.
When your body needs to cool down, the eccrine sweat glands turn on to produce a watery sweat that evaporates through your skin, cooling your internal temperature. This watery perspiration does not generally produce any odor.
However, if the apocrine sweat glands are turned on, your body releases an oily and rather pungent type of liquid. It’s this oily substance that has a strong, ripe, smelly odor.
So, what triggers the apocrine sweat glands to turn on?
In a word, STRESS.
When under stress (either real or perceived), the body’s autonomic nervous system will shift into the ‘flight or fight’ state. And that turns on the apocrine sweat glands.
To elicit the relaxation response and curtail the action of the apocrine glands, we can turn to two simple proven techniques:
* deep, conscious, controlled breathing
* reflexology. Reflexology is a master when it comes to relaxing. Add in a focus on the diaphragm reflex to aid the stress-busting benefits even more.
Who knows? With practice at relaxing, you may be able to ditch your underarm deodorant!
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