I’ve been larger than my peers for as long as I can remember and always sweated more than they do. This wasn’t a big deal for me until later on in my teenage years when we became conscious of our hygiene and the opposite sex. They used to always say I’m big, fat, and sweaty; even when I was just sitting there, I’d always sweat more than them.
I just couldn’t figure it out…
Why do fat people sweat more? According to this study, the answer I found out is that Fat people sweat more because their fat acts as an insulator that traps heat while our bodies constantly produce heat throughout the day and utilizes sweat to cool us down. This cooling process is greater in larger persons since the bigger you are, the more effort you exert and the more heat you will generate over a wider surface area, thus creating more sweat.
Why Do Fat People Sweat More?
More factors contribute to the rate at which you sweat as an obese person than just your size. In this article, I’ll go through all the reasoning behind why fat people sweat more than others.
PHYSICAL FITNESS
Your fitness level is directly related to the rate at which you sweat. If you saw the reason given above on why fat people tend to sweat more, you’ll understand that a part of it results from our body trying to keep us cool. So if you have a poor fitness level, you tend to work harder to do the basic things like walking up steps.
For the average obese person, walking up steps is a huge challenge, and by the end, we feel like we ran a marathon. A fitter person walking over a small number of steps is akin to a walk in the park. If you consider it from this angle, you see that the fitter you are, the less heat your body produces, so you’ll sweat less, while for an overweight person, you’ll produce more heat, thus more sweat.
Body size – Why are fat people always hot?
Your body’s size affects how much you sweat since a larger body is typically hotter and harder to cool than a smaller one. And considering that the larger you are, the more surface area your sweat glands cover, the more sweat your body generates over a wider area to keep it cool effectively. As a result, obese persons seem to sweat more to keep their larger bodies cool.
Age
As you age, your glands lose effectiveness and become less tolerant to heat. This reduction in effectiveness decreases how well your body cools itself and causes it to produces more sweat.
Diet
Certain foods also play a role in how much you sweat. So avoiding foods like caffeine, spicy foods, red meat, and most processed foods will go a long way in reducing your sweating. For an added reduction, consuming healthy foods like dark leafy greens and fruits can also provide a cooling effect and also reduce sweating.
You might also be wondering why do fat people smell? It is because certain foods like eggs, garlic, fish, and other choline and sulfur-containing foods carry an odor that passes through your sweat glands and comes out when you sweat. When these foods and your sweat are paired with poor hygiene, you will smell bad.
So if you’d like to stop smelling bad as an obese person, following a healthy diet and practicing proper hygiene will go a long way to reduce the awful smell.
Sweat Gland Distribution
The distribution of your two to four million sweat glands is another reason why you seem to sweat more than others. Some people have more sweat glands under their armpits, some on their back, others in the face. This is apparent when persons start exerting effort, and it is easy to see if you compare yourself with other people. So while your back is sweating and your face is dry, someone else might have sweat pouring down their face or arms.
What can you do about why you are sweating more as an overweight person?
You can explore a few options to make it easier to live with or prevent how much you sweat.
Choose the Right Clothing
Since sweating is inevitable, choosing to wear the right clothes can help in how much you sweat. Wearing thinner clothes instead of thicker ones helps you to keep cooler. You should also wear the right size and colors of clothing, which I shared in my guide that details a few fashion tips for overweight men.
A rule of thumb is to choose light materials with good moisture wickings like these undershirts for fat guys or compression shirts.
Diet
Switching your diet to a cooling one that involves more fruits and vegetables is one of the best ways to reduce your sweating. Dieting with cooling foods will also help you lose weight, thus giving you double the results.
Use More Effective Antiperspirants
Certain antiperspirants barely reduce how much you sweat and don’t last a long time. As such, you’ll often find yourself sweating profusely even after wearing them, and they won’t mask your odor enough. I recommend checking out either of these two products as they worked well for me. Certain Dri Antiperspirant https://amzn.to/3bbOYU2 or SweatBlock Antiperspirant https://amzn.to/3qe03bu.
Consider Botox Injections
Botox Injections can help in reducing your sweat levels and reduces your body odor as well. These injections are done under the armpits and usually last anywhere from 6-12 months. However, it requires multiple injections for maximum effectiveness.
The trade-offs here may or may not be worth it for some persons, so consult with your doctor before considering it.
Related Questions:
Is it healthy to sweat a lot?
Sweating is a natural metabolic process that the body uses to keep us alive. Without sweating, your body would overheat, and you’d likely die or end up in the hospital. With this in mind, you can tell that you need to sweat to stay alive.
Your body is constantly cooling itself; however, sometimes it’s not to the extent where the sweat is visible as most times it evaporates while being released.
Does losing weight help excessive sweating?
As mentioned throughout the article, losing weight can help prevent excessive sweating since the smaller you are, the less surface area needs to be cooled. Furthermore, the less fat you have, the less heat is trapped in your body, so you will see a reduction in sweat production.
The Bottom Line
Fat people sweating more is an inescapable part of being obese; however, you don’t have to smell bad even if you are sweaty. For the most part, you don’t want to rid yourself of sweat completely. What you need to do is follow the tips shared above and take measures to reduce how much you sweat, and try to keep your body cool.
This way, you won’t have to worry about sweating.