Don't Sweat It

"I'm sweating like a pig!" This is a phrase that people say often in the USA when they are sweating heavily but it turns out pigs don't actually sweat that much. 
When I ran out of my US deodorant in China and went to the store I found that they only had two different brands, they only had about 20 bottles for sale in the entire store, and they only had spray on or roll on. I thought it was strange and when I asked my Chinese friend why this was she said, "Don't you know? Chinese people don't sweat!" I felt as shocked when I heard about this.
My next thought was, "Wait, we are all human. Don't all humans sweat?" 

Actually my friend was wrong, kind of. What I found is that those with European and African ancestry have sweat glands that make them smell bad. East Asians do have sweat glands but it does not smell (Adams, 2017). But why does Asian sweat not smell? There are a few theories.

The theory so far is that the ancient Asian population would only have children with those who did not have these smelly sweat glands so it was cut out from the gene pool (Adams, 2017). Pheromones can be found in sweat, why do I bring that up? Pheromones are a chemical that causes changes in hormone levels,which can make woman ovulate and more likely to conceive a child (Sanders, 2006). Perhaps those with non-smelly sweat had more attractive pheromones than the smelly guys. That is just my guess. 

It was discovered that the gene responsible for wetter earwax was also linked to stinky sweat glands. Dry earwax was linked to non-smelly sweat glands (Vergano, 2013). What is the evolutionary purpose of these things? Scientists are still trying to figure that out. Maybe there was an evolutionary purpose to being non-smelly and have dry earwax in ancient Asia and smelly in Europe and Africa. 

I found on Internetlooks.com that evolutionary we look different based on where our ancestors lived. Ancient Asians lived in area that was deeply cold, mountainous, and very windy, so why would they need to develop sweat in a cold place? Compare that to the Caucasian race who lived in semi-cold and forested areas and the Black race who lived in a hot desert environment (Human Differentiation: Evolution of Racial Characteristics, 2017).

So if you come to Asia and you are white or black you might want to stock up on your deodorant because unlike your Asian friends, your sweat stinks. 

Sources

Adams, Cecil. “Do Chinese Lack Sweat Glands in Their Armpits? Why Does Spicy Food Make You Sweat?” The Straight Dope, The Straight Dope, 29 Nov. 2017, www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2417/do-chinese-lack-sweat-glands-in-their-armpits/.


“Human Differentiation: Evolution of Racial Characteristics.” Human Differentiation: Evolution of Racial Characteristics, 2017, internetlooks.com/humandifferentiation.html.

Sanders, Robert. “Male Sweat Boosts Women's Hormone Levels.” 02.06.2007 - Male Sweat Boosts Women's Hormone Levels, UC Berkeley, 6 Feb. 2006, www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2007/02/06_sweat.shtml.

Vergano, Dan. “No Sweat? If You Have This Gene, You May Not Use Deodorant.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 18 June 2013, www.usatoday.com/story/tech/sciencefair/2013/06/17/armpit-gene-deodorant/2432749/.