Your body is capable of telling you countless things if you take the time to listen. Most of us don’t attune ourselves very well to the rhythms and sensations of our body and it takes the soreness after exercise to get our attention. Those who are more attuned can sense when they’re close to their limit and need to cool down. There isn’t anything metaphysical about this talent. All it is learning to listen to the very physical things your body is trying to tell you. OROGOLD enthusiasts tend to be focused on their skin and this is commendable, but we all need to listen to more than just our skin. Fortunately, technology may be on its way to help all of us with this by interpreting the very real information found in your sweat.

The Basics
Your body does countless things while you’re exercising. Yes, there is the obvious level of your muscles moving, but this causes countless smaller shifts in balances throughout your body that keep you and it informed as to how you’re doing. Your core temperature rising causes you to start to sweat to maintain a healthy temperature while your muscles cells get the cue that they are in use and this starts processes that eventually result in the creation of lactic acid. Interestingly, it is the buildup of this acid that tends to be the most tied with muscle fatigue. It needs to be given time to be processed and dispersed so that you can keep using your muscles readily after a long workout. While this is happening, various things pass out of your body through your sweat that give a rough idea of how you’re doing internally. This is where science comes in.

The Tech
Most of us are familiar with giving “samples” at the doctor. The idea is that provide various fluids the doctor is capable of having lab tests run to give you a picture of your health at a smaller level than the naked eye allows. A set of scientists have created technology designed based on this principle, but are focusing on just reading what they can from sweat and doing so immediately without the need for a lab. They’ve done this by creating a headband composed of sensors that take samples across the skin it is applied to and analyzing them on the fly. The data the sensors collect is then fed to another device as output with a quick picture of the current levels of various compounds in your sweat. They hope that the technology can be further developed and minimized to give people a way to monitor their body effectively. The overall hope is that the device will lead to fewer instances of dehydration and sunstroke.

How Does It Work?
We’ve already highlighted that the devices uses multiple samples gathered from the skin, but let’s touch on the data it is collecting and how. Flexible circuitry close to the skin offers sample sites that take live readings of your skin’s temperature. The sweat it collects is analyzed for levels of sodium, glucose, and other compounds. Each of the compounds it checks for it set against the healthy levels for the human body to be at. Right now, the device mainly functions to provide a readout to the scientists. The intended capacity to warn people when their body is hitting a limit will likely come much later in development. Currently, scientists are focusing on a way to make the device smaller and easier to wear than a headband.

Your sweat is part of the well-regulated systems of your body. It also turns out that it holds the potential to be a biological readout on your current health. Those living an OROGOLD lifestyle may find such an interesting piece of technology useful if they favor a more active life. In the future, it will let you push yourself a little bit harder and longer when exercising without the need to worry about whether you’ve pushed yourself too far. Try to focus on learning to listen to your body more for the time being though.