Dr. Leena Sripada’s Blog
Let's Talk about Sweat
Summer blog on sweat: why we sweat, what it indicates, how its good for us and how to hydrate. Beat the heat with Ayurvedic Care for Pitta!
By Dr. Leena Sripada, ND, AAWC
In a passing conversation, I heard that some people are getting their sweat gland removed from their armpits. Why? So you can’t see their sweat.
As health care practitioner, this was almost disturbing for me to hear…
Sweating is essential for detox, sweating is essential to regulate our body temperatures. If we suppress our sweat, it is bound to show up as toxins in other ways with repercussions. And as we enter the hot, summer, sweaty season, let’s talk about it!
When was the last time you broke a good sweat? Was it during a workout, a summer heatwave, or perhaps a nervous moment before a big presentation? However it happened, sweating is one of the most natural — and essential — processes our bodies perform. Yet, we often overlook its importance or even try to suppress it.
Let’s dive deeper into why sweating matters for your health, how it functions in both modern medicine and ancient healing traditions like Ayurveda, and how to support healthy sweating and hydration for optimal wellbeing.
Why Do We Sweat?
At its core, sweating is your body’s natural way of regulating temperature. When your internal body temperature rises, your brain signals the sweat glands to release fluid onto the surface of your skin. As this moisture evaporates, it cools your body down.
But sweat isn’t just about temperature control. It also plays a vital role in:
Detoxification: Eliminating certain waste products and toxins.
Immune support: Creating a less hospitable environment for harmful microbes
Skin health: Helping to clear pores and improve skin tone and moisture.
Emotional release: Reflecting our inner state during stress, anxiety, or excitement
Ayurveda’s View on Sweat
In Ayurvedic medicine, sweda (sweat) is considered one of the essential waste products (mala) of the body. Healthy sweating is seen as a natural expression of balanced pitta dosha — the energy associated with heat, transformation, and metabolism.
According to Ayurveda:
Excessive sweating may indicate aggravated pitta or aggravated vata through anxiety.
Minimal or absent sweating can suggest a sluggish metabolism, excess kapha, or blocked channels (srotas) or simply a cooler body type like vata.
Foul-smelling sweat may be a sign of accumulated toxins (ama) in the system and should not be suppressed with antiperspirants but should be dealt with by balancing the whole system.
Balanced sweating maintains clear skin, supports digestive fire (agni), and helps maintain emotional equilibrium.
The Benefits of a Good Sweat
Beyond ancient wisdom and modern physiology, here’s what a good sweat session can offer:
Boosts circulation
Supports lymphatic drainage
Improves mood by releasing endorphins
Promotes skin detox and glow
Strengthens immune defenses
Reduces stress and tension
Is It Possible to Sweat Too Much — or Not Enough?
Yes. Both extremes can be signs of imbalance.
Excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis) may stem from:
High pitta constitution or imbalance
Anxiety and stress
Overstimulation from caffeine, alcohol, or spicy foods
Certain medical conditions like hyperthyroidism
Insufficient sweating (anhidrosis or hypohidrosis) can be linked to:
Excess kapha dosha
Dehydration
Blocked sweat glands
Underactive thyroid
Chronic fatigue or certain autoimmune conditions
Simple Ways to Encourage Healthy Sweating
If you tend to feel heavy, congested, or emotionally stagnant, you might benefit from therapies that promote gentle sweating:
Sauna or steam baths (Ayurveda favors herbal steam therapy known as swedana often done after Ayurvedic oil massages to drive in the medicinal oils)
Brisk walks or gentle exercise
Dry brushing and abhyanga (warm oil massage) to open the channels
Drinking hydrating fluids (like natural electrolyte drinks)
Wearing natural, breathable fabrics like cotton, bamboo and silk to support natural perspiration
When to Pay Attention to Your Sweat
While sweating is normal and healthy, certain signs might warrant closer attention:
A sudden increase or decrease in sweat without obvious cause
Strong, unusual, or foul odors (indicating toxins like Candida)
Night sweats without a known trigger
Drenching sweats paired with fever, weight loss, or fatigue
In these cases, consult with your naturopathic doctor or Ayurvedic practitioner to identify underlying causes.
Final Thoughts
Sweating is far more than a messy side effect of summer heat or gym sessions — it’s a vital expression of your body’s intelligence and resilience. In both naturopathic and Ayurvedic medicine, we see it as a powerful tool for detoxification, emotional release, and maintaining energetic balance.
So, the next time you feel a little glisten on your brow, thank your body for doing its beautiful work.
Did you miss the Summer webinar with Ayurvedic tips to stay cool? Watch the replay —> here
Replenish & Recharge: Citrus-Mint Electrolyte Drink
Scrap the Gatorade full of artificial colour and sugar. Opt in for a naturally cooling, mineral-rich drink to replenish your body after sweating, promoting hydration, mineral balance, and digestive comfort - that is cheap and easy to make!
Ingredients
Juice of 1 fresh lime (key limes are best)
1–2 tsp pure maple syrup (or raw honey)
A pinch of natural rock salt or Himalayan pink salt
6–8 fresh mint leaves, lightly crushed
1½ cups (350 ml) fresh water
Optional: ¼ tsp magnesium powder
Instructions
In a glass or jar, combine the lime juice, maple syrup, and salt. Stir until dissolved.
Add the crushed mint leaves.
Pour in the water and stir well.
Stir in magnesium powder if using.
Ayurvedic Variations: Balance Your Dosha
🌿 Vata Balancing
Use warm water instead of cool
Add a pinch of ground ginger for warmth and digestion.
🔥 Pitta Balancing
Stick with slightly cool or room temperature water
Add extra mint leaves or a few rose petals for enhanced cooling
Use coconut water in place of filtered water for added natural electrolytes
🌱 Kapha Balancing
Use warm water
Add a pinch of black pepper or cayenne for metabolism support
Replace maple syrup with raw honey (stir only after water cools slightly)
Doctor’s Tip: Sip this after your morning walk, post-workout, or any time you’ve worked up a healthy sweat to keep your body balanced and refreshed.
Why This Works
This simple drink replenishes vital minerals lost in sweat, soothes digestion, calms the nervous system, and keeps your doshas balanced after physical activity or heat exposure.
🌸 Crafted with care by Dr. Leena Sripada, ND |www.DoctorLeena.ca
Hormonal Health in Women: Ayurvedic Insights
This blog helps you understand the Ayurvedic approach to women’s health and preventative steps to nurture you through the hormonal changes based on Ayurvedic body type.
Hormonal shifts are a natural part of every woman’s life, from menstruation to menopause. While these transitions can bring challenges—like PMS, mood swings, hot flashes, and sleep issues—Ayurveda offers powerful tools to restore balance gently and effectively. Understanding the root causes through an Ayurvedic lens can help women navigate hormonal changes with more ease and vitality. These are natural phases of life, when acknowledged, can be dealt with at ease.
The Ayurvedic View on Hormonal Imbalance
Ayurveda sees hormonal health as deeply connected to the balance of the three doshas: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Each dosha governs specific physiological and emotional functions:
Vata (air + ether) regulates movement, nervous system activity, and elimination.
Pitta (fire + water) governs metabolism, digestion, and transformation.
Kapha (earth + water) supports structure, lubrication, and emotional stability.
Hormonal imbalances arise when these doshas go out of sync due to imbalanced diet, stress, lifestyle, environmental toxins, and disharmony between our body-mind-spirit.
PMS
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) often reflects a Vata-Pitta imbalance, especially in the nervous and reproductive systems. Symptoms like anxiety, irritability, bloating, cramps, and insomnia point to excess Vata (irregularity and dryness) and Pitta (inflammation and intensity). We must remember that in a healthy woman, PMS symptoms typically should go almost unnoticed - which is uncommon these days because most people are out of balance!
Ayurvedic Support:
Diet: Favor warm, cooked, grounding foods like stews, kitchari, and root vegetables. Include lots of ginger to promote circulation and reduce inflammation. Avoid caffeine and refined sugar which increases inflammation and avoid cold/raw foods which dampens agni.
Lifestyle: Balance activity with rest, gentle movement (like yoga or walking), and routine (dinacharya). Self-massage (abhyanga) with warm sesame oil calms Vata. Castor oil packs can reduce inflammation and strengthen digestion.
Herbs: Many of the root adaptagens like Shatavari, Aswagandha, Licorice help soothe the nervous system, tone the reproductive system and manage anxiety and fatigue. When to take them, how much and when is all part of a customized Ayurvedic health plan as each herb has unique actions.
Perimenopause: A Vata Surge
In perimenopause (the transitional years before menopause), Vata becomes dominant, leading to irregular periods, mood instability, dryness, brain fog, and sleep disturbances. Stress, multitasking, and overexertion can aggravate these symptoms. There is no set age, but typically this starts 40+ but can even start earlier in some individuals.
Ayurvedic Support:
Diet: Eat nourishing and grounding foods—think ghee, avocados, cooked grains, and spiced milk with nutmeg.
Lifestyle: Stick to a calming daily routine. Prioritize sleep, warm baths, and restorative practices like yoga nidra or meditation.
Herbs: Shatavari remains a foundational herb, supporting estrogen balance and vitality. Vitex plays a role with supporting progesterone while Brahmi soothes the mind and nervous system.
It is very crucial to implement rejuvenation treatments at this phase since if addressed early, it paves way for a smooth menopause. Many women however, don’t realize these hormonal changes are at the root of their symptoms and often don’t seek treatment until they feel they are losing control over their health.
Menopause: Fire Meets Air
As menstruation ends, women may experience hot flashes, night sweats, irritability, and thinning tissues. This is a combined Pitta-Vata imbalance—Pitta’s fire shows up in heat and frustration, while Vata contributes to dryness, instability and unexplained anxiety.
Ayurvedic Support:
Diet: Emphasize cooling, hydrating, and grounding foods like cucumbers, leafy greens, dates and ghee. Spices such as saffron, coriander and fennel are also supportive. Mung beans are excellent for liver cleansing as well. Avoid alcohol, spicy food, and stimulants.
Lifestyle: Embrace a slower rhythm. Practice self-care rituals that calm and cool—moon salutations, journaling, or cooling pranayama like Sheetali breath.
Herbs: Shatavari, Licorice, Ashoka, Kumari and Amalaki are all excellent as customized based on your dosha type and health concerns. These herbs nourish and lubricate tissues while supporting hormone balance and liver detox.
Holistic Tips for All Hormonal Stages
Regardless of age or health status, these Ayurvedic tips support hormonal resilience:
Eat with the seasons and honor your digestion and dosha—don’t skip meals or eat late at night.
Sleep is sacred—aim for 7–8 hours of quality rest before 10 p.m.
Acknowledge stressful factors: unravel old patterns through daily breathwork, nature time, or creative expression.
Stay hydrated with warm herbal teas like CCF, lemon balm, ginger, or chamomile.
Track your cycle or symptoms with a journal to notice patterns and respond early.
Final Thoughts
Ayurveda reminds us that hormonal changes are not problems to fix, but natural shifts to honor. By listening to your body, staying in rhythm with nature, and nourishing yourself deeply, you can experience your hormonal journey not as a burden—but as a gateway to greater wisdom and balance.
Dr. Leena Sripada, ND, AAWC is an experienced naturopathic doctor & Ayurvedic practitioner who blends the best of both healing systems. She integrates the abundance of health information into a relevant, practical approach for patients to promote deeper health transformation in individuals who are seeking positive challenge and change.
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