There are a few theories out there. The most widely accepted has to do with something called the thermic effect of food, which the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition defines as “the increase in metabolic rate after ingestion of a meal.” Or, to put it more simply: every time you eat, your body must expend some energy to break down the food you’ve just swallowed. By doing so it releases heat, ever-so-slightly increasing your core body temperature. Usually though, the change is negligible. The thing is, depending on what you’ve eaten, the amount of energy your body has to use to process it can vary pretty substantially.
Again, though, that's just the leading theory—others do exist, citing the salt and nitrates in meat as the culprit, but they have even less proof than the above. So, if we were to go out on a limb and presume that the thermic effect is to blame, is there anything a person can you do to keep the meat sweats to a minimum? Unfortunately, we've only got one answer: eat less meat. And since we all know that’s not going to happen, it's probably best to accept your fate now. And maybe invest in an undershirt.
