How can I stop sweaty hands?

Question

Sweaty hands are plaguing my rock climbing and pull up exercises, as well as being annoying at other times. I've read a few (unsourced) ideas that nutrition can be a big factor in sweaty hands. Can I do to stop sweaty palms by changing my diet? If so, how?

Answer 1

Sweaty hands is a common ailment for weight lifters and rock climbers, with equally detrimental effects. The solution really isn't nutrition related. It's simply chalk. Chalk dries the hands, and improves your grip.

If you feel that chalk would be detrimental to the environment, you can go for an "Eco Ball" by Metolius. Same effects, although I might argue that it is not quite as effective as good old fashioned chalk.

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After reading the comments, you also may want to look at this article on diet and hyperhidrosis. The thing is, you do need to rule out whether you have hyperhidrosis or not. Take a look on at this article that describes what hyperhidrosis actually is. It also has tips on food to avoid in addition to other tips.

Also do remember that rock climbing is an activity that causes an adrenaline rush, and is therefore stressful. Not necessarily in a bad way, but it is a factor to consider in trying to understand the sweaty hands.

Answer 2

Sweating is generally either: genetics, or high level of stress (or both).

If you have been dealing with sweaty palms for a while, and do not have high levels of stress, it might be genetics. (Some food might make you feel hot like spices and stuff, but i personally do not believe that they cause constant sweating..)

I am not a doctor, but myself I have a very high metabolism and energy levels (genetics) and this makes me get overheated and sweat more than the average person on my forehead and sometimes my underarms. And during periods of stress it gets worse of course. The only Solution that kinda fixed the underarms sweat (and am not scaming you or selling you a product, i do not work for this company and I do not live in france) is a European (french) product called etiaxil. They say you can apply it on hands( if you need help in translating let me know).
What i did, i used etiaxil at first 3 times a week following their instructions. And after only one month of usage, i did not have that problem for underarms anymore, even when i am on vacation in a 38 degrees celsius temperature.(too bad they don't have a product that can be used on forehead).

Check it out, and most important , do no be bothered by having sweaty palms because in reality the bodies that sweat more last longer because such bodies keep on cleaning themselves from toxins with sweat.

Answer 3

Consider putting underarm antiperspirant on the palms of your hands at bedtime. I don't know if underarm antiperspirant is safe or effective on the hands. See this study which studied the use of underarm antiperspirant on the feet.

There exist $20 antiperspirants labeled for use on hands. The inactive ingredients might differ from those of underarm antiperspirant; I haven't researched the matter. The active ingredient is likely to be an aluminum compound which is either identical or related to the aluminum compounds found in underarm antiperspirants. Make sure the product you choose contains an aluminum compound: if it doesn't, it's unlikely to work very well.

_{Dear all: if you do some PubMed searching to see if underarm antiperspirant works on hands, please edit this answer and point us to what you found. I can approve your suggested edit.}