Medicine: Varieties of Sweat

For flavors of sweat, the human body is a regular soda fountain—the sweat of the brow is strong in uric acid, the sweat of the hands is strong in chloride (salt), the sweat of the thigh is strong in lactic acid. These pungent facts are disclosed in a report by Drs. Olaf Mickelson and Ancel Keys of the University of Minnesota in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

The chief purpose of their research was to find out whether enough vitamins are lost in sweat to warrant feeding U.S. soldiers in the tropics extra vitamins. The soldiers tested were all healthy young men who were set to work on treadmills in warm rooms. Sweat from the arm was collected by dripping into a bottle. Sweat from other parts was collected on clean gauze or by scraping with a beaker. For a sample of sweat from the whole body, the subject wore long, heavy underwear, then, after he got hot, was stood in a basin, had his underwear peeled off, was rinsed with distilled water.

Doctors’ conclusions: few vitamins are lost in sweat, despite its variety. The only vitamin lost in any quantity is nicotinic acid, the antipellagra factor.