There are certain things that we, as a civilized people, just don't talk about. Take, for example, sweat.

Nobody talks about sweat.

People don't go to dinner parties and say, "That is lovely sweat you're dripping." "Thanks, I worked out just before coming." "Well, it works, lemme tell ya. You look fantastic."

The only time people talk about sweat is as a negative. Don't sweat the small stuff. I'm sweating the deal I'm working on. Never let them see you sweat.

Sweat is yucky. It's an oil slick on our forehead when we're anxious. It puddles in our palms when we're nervous. It sprawls under our armpits like a flooded swamp, seemingly whenever. \

Sweat is also smelly. It is to humans what steam is to manhole covers - a release of rank fumes. When you're standing close to someone who is sweating on a crowded subway, say, or in an elevator, your eyes sting from the foul reek and you turn your face away and try not to breathe, but the stench comes after you like those ghostly fingers in the cartoons.

People think there's not much good to say about sweat, but I've found out differently.

It says here in the paper that researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that men's perspiration has "a surprisingly beneficial effect on women's moods. It helps reduce stress, induces relaxation, and even affects the menstrual cycle."

In a study to be published in the journal Biology of Reproduction, researchers collected samples from the underarms of men who refrained from using deodorant for four weeks. "The extracts were then blended and applied to the upper lips of 18 women, ages 25 to 45," Reuters reports.