The short answer:
Some vitamins are found to be strongly associated with the rate of sweating. High doses of vitamin B could cause sweating. Moreover, vitamin D and vitamin B12 deficiency were reported to cause more sweating. Find more about what vitamins cause sweating in this article.
Key facts
- Sweating is a normal physiological process by which your body regulates its temperature.
- Vitamin B supplements and foods rich in vitamin B could increase sweating.
- A deficiency of vitamin B12 could also increase sweating, especially at night (night sweats).
- Deficiency of vitamin D could increases sweating and a sweaty head is one of the common symptoms of vitamin D deficiency.
- High doses of zinc, in foods or supplements, increase sweating.
- Magnesium supplements help reduce stress-induced excessive sweating.
- Calcium deficiency could increase sweating and appropriate calcium intake could help to suppress sweating.
Content:
Vitamins deficiency and sweating?
What vitamins increase sweating?
What is sweat:
Sweat is a watery secretion that your body produces when it is overheated. This process helps your body to control temperature. When sweat on your skin is evaporated, body temperature decreases to the normal level.
There are two main types of sweat glands named as eccrine and apocrine glands.
Eccrine sweat gland:
It is the most common sweat gland distributed across your entire body and is responsible for the secretion of the highest volume of sweat.
Sweat excreted by the eccrine gland is mostly water and contains salt, protein, urea, and ammonia.
Apocrine sweat glands:
This gland is larger than the eccrine gland. It is responsible for the secretion of less volume of sweat as they are limited to specific regions in your body such as the armpits, groin, and breast. When this gland secretes sweat, bacteria on your skin break sweat into fatty acids, and when it is mixed with the secretions of these glands, bad odor results (Ref).
Do vitamins affect sweating?
Sweating is a body mechanism to regulate its temperature. When your body temperature is above normal, the nervous system stimulates your sweat gland to execrate sweat. When sweat evaporates, your body temperature cools down. Also, sweating helps in flushing out your body’s toxins.
Excessive sweating, however, can be irritating, uncomfortable, and commonly associated with bad odor.
The rate of sweating is strongly affected by many factors such as your health condition, stress, and environmental conditions such as humidity and hot climate.
Many pathological conditions could lead to excessive sweating. This includes the following:
- Thyroid disorders
- HIV infection
- Anxiety
- leukemia
- Alcohol withdrawal
- Hypoglycemia
- Medications such as antidepressants and some antidiabetic agents
Importantly, a strong association is reported between vitamins and sweat. Water-soluble vitamins are excreted with sweat to a significant degree. Vitamin loss during sweating could induce vitamin deficiency. Vitamin deficiency, in turn, could increase sweating.
Therefore, some vitamins are found to be strongly associated with the rate of sweating and many studies reported excessive sweating could result from the deficiency of certain vitamins such as vitamin B 12 and vitamin D.
Which vitamin deficiency causes sweating?
Vitamin B12 deficiency
Vitamin B complex vitamins are essential vitamins for regulating nervous system functions. These vitamins also have impacts on your energy levels, cell metabolism, and your brain functions.
In stressful situations, your sympathetic nervous system is overexcited and you start to sweat.
Vitamin B deficiency makes you more sensitive to anxiety and stressful conditions leading to excessive sweating. Excessive sweating is commonly observed at night during sleeping (night sweating) (Ref).
A study showed that treatment with vitamin B 12 successfully reduced excessive night sweating in adult patients with vitamin B 12 deficiency.
Vitamin D deficiency
Vitamin D deficiency is characterized by excessive sweating, especially in your hands. A sweaty hand is the most common symptom of vitamin D deficiency.
Accordingly, food rich in vitamin D or vitamin D supplements could help you to balance the deficiency in vitamin D. Also, it is important to expose your body o sunlight as it is the main source of vitamin D.
Foods rich in vitamin D include the following:
- Dairy products
- Fatty fish
- Salmon
- Cold liver oil
- Trout
- Red meat
- Mushrooms
- Egg
- Fortified cereals
- Fortified spreads
- Spanish
- Kale
- Soybeans
What vitamins cause sweating in high doses?
Vitamin B is known to increase internal body temperature, accordingly, it could increase sweating. Taking vitamin B as supplements or eating foods rich in vitamin B could lead to excessive sweetening.
Foods rich in vitamin B include:
- leafy greens
- Meat
- Fishes
- Salmon
- Eggs
- Legumes
- Nuts
- Beans
- Dairy products
In addition, a high dose of vitamin B7 (biotin) is characterized by unusual excessive sweating and an increased need for urination, stomach cramps, and diarrhea.
FAQs
1. Does low vitamin B12 cause night sweats?
Yes, night sweats could be attributed to vitamin B deficiency.
Proper take of foods rich in vitamin B or vitamin B supplements could help you to reduce excessive night sweating when vitamin B deficiency is treated.
2. Does vitamin D make you sweat more?
No, vitamin D doesn’t make you sweat more. In contrast, Vitamin D deficiency is characterized by excessive sweating (Sweaty hands) and vitamin D supplements could help you to decrease sweating.
3. Does zinc cause sweating?
Yes, excessive sweating is one of the main side effects of high doses of zinc supplements.
Other side effects of high doses of zinc include nausea, vomiting, stomach upset, headache dizziness, and metallic taste.
4. Does magnesium increase sweating?
No, magnesium could help to reduce excessive sweating.
Magnesium loss in sweat could decrease your magnesium blood levels and this could make you stressed. Stress, in turn, increases sweating and more magnesium loss could result.
Moreover, magnesium supplements could help you to relieve stress, tension headache, and fatigue. As magnesium helps the nervous system relax, therefore, it could help to reduce stress-induced sweating.
5. Can calcium cause excessive sweating?
No, calcium doesn’t increase sweating, in contrast, it could suppress sweating.
Calcium is an important element that helps in regulating your body temperature. However, calcium deficiency could increase sweating and adequate intake of calcium could decrease sweating.
6. Does sweating mean you are healthy?
It is not a general rule that sweating indicates you are healthy.
Sweating is a physiological process by which your body controls its temperature. However, excessive sweating could indicate health problems such as vitamin D and vitamin B12 deficiency, hypoglycemia, infections, leukemia, and many other pathological conditions.
