Do you have questions about nutrition? Send them to us at comer@lavanguardia.es, our nutritionist Aitor Sánchez will answer all your questions.
I tend to sweat a lot and I'm watching my diet to see if there are any ingredients that increase sweating. Does caffeine make me sweat more? And if so, what other drinks or foods can I have to wake myself up? (Alejandra Zamora, reader)
Hi Alejandra,
I would recommend that you consult your specific sweating problem with a dermatologist, because they will surely give you the keys to your case. Diet is related to sweating, but in a discreet way and is not the highest priority.
For example, coffee does contribute to a slight tachycardia and also to a slight increase in body temperature, but its contribution to sweat is insignificant.
In your case, doing some sports or activation in the morning before going to work could be very indicated. It is known that taking a short twenty-minute walk in the morning activates and improves our alertness in a similar way to having coffee on an empty stomach. In addition, increasing your heart rate and exercising your body in the morning can also help you get used to regulating your temperature better and not sweating as much under normal conditions, I mean when we don't do that sports practice.
Beyond specific foods, I also want to remember that nutritional status is key when it comes to regulating temperature and sweat. Those people who are overweight or obese regulate their temperature worse and their sweating is less effective, causing them to often have to sweat more. If this is your case, you may benefit from losing some visceral fat.
Heavy digestion or intestinal discomfort can also contribute to this, making the afternoon schedule very uncomfortable.
For these last two situations we would recommend a lighter and more frugal diet, trying to increase the amount of vegetables in the meal, and also avoiding taking too many heavy preparations and very sweet or greasy foods.
Hello. I would like to know what average of calories I should lose every time I go to the gym. I don't know if it's a good indicator, but I always ask myself if I'm getting enough exercise when I go. Is 400 kcal okay? Perhaps it is important to note that I have a fairly sedentary job and I spend the day sitting down. Thanks for your time. (Sofía Ruiz, reader)
Hello Sofia,
Indeed, calories are not a good indicator to know how you are training. Mainly because what we are looking for with physical exercise goes far beyond expending energy. For example, even at the level of fat loss or body recomposition, the changes you generate in your body are much more important and not so much the kcal burned.
This is because the effects of exercise are very beneficial at all levels, they can involve building more muscle, and even increasing your body's heart rate and activity throughout the rest of the day. That is, you can expend more energy after than during exercise, although it may seem striking.
So spending 500 calories on a workout tells us very little. Plus we don't know your goals either. A training plan to gain strength, muscle mass, improve your cardiorespiratory capacity or lose fat is not the same.
I would recommend that you take other much more interesting health indicators and not obsess over the calories expended that a watch or heart rate monitor can tell you.
For example, you notice that you have been able to perform high intensities and efforts, but that you do not have disabling soreness the next day. That you can have those sensations that physical activity has required effort and that you notice that you may be more hungry that week. But above all, that you feel good about yourself and notice that you are increasingly capable of doing better workouts (it costs you less, you lift more weight, you do it easier or faster).
If you focus on these issues, you will not only progress without realizing it, but you will also make your training much more bearable and bring you closer to your goals.
