Spas, hot springs and sweat lodges around the world offer "sweat wraps" as a method of detoxification and cleansing the body of harmful impurities. But do they work?

Dr. Dee Anna Glaser, a professor of dermatology at St. Louis University and founding member of the International Hyperhidrosis Society, a medical group dedicated to the study and treatment of heavy sweating, tells the Los Angeles Times that although sweat does contain trace amounts of toxins, trying to induce sweating to cleanse the body isn’t effective.

"Sweating for the sake of sweating has no benefits," she told the newspaper. "Sweating heavily is not going to release a lot of toxins."
Instead, many experts say that heavy sweating can actually have the opposite effect, since it can cause dehydration and cause the kidneys to stop working properly.

Other detoxification methods, like chelation therapy and detoxification supplements, may be more effective in ridding the body of chemicals and improving health, according to some healthcare experts.

Nutritional supplements containing milk thistle, soy lechitin, artichoke leaf, turmeric root, burdock root and alpha lipoic acid (ALA) among other ingredients are believed to aid in cleansing the liver and kidneys.