Sweat and Skin Health

Can exercise & sweat help skin health?

Exercise is beneficial for so many aspects of our health - but could exercise also help our skin look better?

We know having a regular movement practice is good for the health of our cardiovascular system, skeletal muscles and liver. Exercise also helps keep us sensitive to insulin, helping us use our blood glucose in an appropriate way (and helping prevent diabetes).

All of these factors can improve our antioxidant status, lower inflammation in our bodies and may be involved in improving skin concerns like acne (which can be related to our stress levels, mental health, blood sugar and inflammatory load).

What about skin aging?

New research has shown that exercise might also have a role in supporting skin health and aging via our immune system. A team of researchers have been looking into interleukin-15, an immune protein that is elevated after exercise.

In mice models researchers have found that lower interleukin-15 can leads to poorer skin quality. This lead them to hypothesize that with increased exercise, and subsequently increased IL-15, we would have increased skin quality.

Another interesting point is that IL-15 is only increased after exercise for a short amount of time - speaking to the importance of staying consistent with exercise!

What about sweating? Is that good for my skin?

Believe it or not when we get a good sweat on it does support skin health!

After exercise, our skin tends to have a higher concentration of alpha hydroxy acids (AHA) that naturally help moisturize the outer layer of our skin. These AHAs are present in our sweat!

Light exercise with a low level of sweating supports the barrier function of our skin, and promotes a good flora of microbes (on facial skin). Exercise on a hot summer day, when we are working hard and sweating more has shown a reduction in sebum.

Exercise is helpful for a number of health-related reasons - skincare is no exception.

Need more help with your skin? Book with one of our naturopathic doctors to learn more about how we can support your skin and overall health.