When author Isak Dinesen poetically wrote, “The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea,” her statement was more accurate than she may have realized—especially when it comes to sweat.

With ads peddling the embarrassment and undesirability of sweaty armpits, Americans spent $2.9 billion dollars to benefit from deodorants and antiperspirants in 2012. Ironically, while we were working so hard to prevent and hide our sweat, this underrated bodily function was operating efficiently to keep us …