How does drinking too much seawater affect your body?

The question of whether seawater can be drunk as a last resort is currently being debated. Some people believe that the salinity of seawater is four times higher than the salt content of the human body, and drinking seawater will increase the total osmotic pressure in the body, although it can quench thirst temporarily, but soon it will urinate profusely, causing a large loss of water in the body. However, there are also many people who believe that a small amount of seawater in a short period of time will help prolong life.

Some people experimented, from the first day of falling into the sea, drink 50 ml each time, drink only 500 ml a day, drink 4 or 5 days later, and then drink fresh water, as a result, the metabolism in the experimenter's body quickly returned to normal. French Dr. Alain Bombard, who has been hailed as a "role model for the navy", said: "If you have fresh water, add seawater to extend your water supply time with strict control of the proportion; If you don't have fresh water, drink seawater to save your life until you can get rain, get a fish to squeeze into juice, or wait until the lifeboat arrives.

Alain Bombal is not advocating drinking seawater, but stresses that it can only be drunk under strict control in life-and-death emergencies. Alain Bombal's experience is that the ratio of 2:1, that is, drinking two parts fresh water and one part seawater, generally does not harm the human body, but greatly prolongs the life of the shipwrecked at sea.

Because only when you have time can you gather the strength to fish and collect rainwater, to continue sailing and to signal the rescue boats. In his recent writings, Brieau-Orly, a well-known French naval physician, wrote: "The victim can drink a small amount of seawater, up to 800 900 milliliters a day, and do not wait until he is completely dehydrated."

In the Second World War, there were three wrecked sailors, drifting in the Black Sea, they drank seawater to quench their thirst, one of them drank for 34 days in a row, he could only moisten his throat with bitter and astringent seawater for the first two days, and then he drank one or two sips, and on the third day, he was so thirsty that he drank a lot of it, and drank about 2,000 milliliters in one day and night, however, he survived. It seems that drinking seawater in small quantities is also an emergency solution in the absence of fresh water. Satisfied.

Drinking too much seawater can dehydrate a person until they die!

In daily life, many people will have a question, whether it is fresh water or sea water, why can't people drink sea water directly?

In fact, the human body is unacceptable or the main reason is that the body can't stand the high salinity, because the water in the body that people ingest every day needs to pass through the kidneys to turn the water into urine or sweat and excrete it from the body. The excretion function of the kidneys is also limited, and the concentration of salt excreted by the general excretion should not exceed 2%, while the salt content in seawater is as high. If seawater is forcibly substituted for fresh water, due to the physiological structure of the human being, in order to achieve the concentration inside and outside the cell, the water in the same cell will seep out and cause the cell to lack water.

What are the consequences if the human body drinks seawater directly?

1. Dehydration of the human body. The concentration of salts in seawater is 4 times that of human fluids, and the ability of the human kidneys to excrete salt is very limited. During this period, it will lead to direct drinking of seawater, which will not only fail to quench thirst, but will even lead to a large loss of water in the body.

2. Cause poisoning. Seawater contains a large amount of salts and a variety of excess elements, and the concentration of these substances is too high, far exceeding the standard of normal drinking water. If only a small amount of seawater is drunk, it will not cause unnecessary harm to the human body, but drinking a large amount of it will cause some elements to enter the human body, thereby affecting the physiological functions of the human body, and in severe cases, it will also cause poisoning reactions.

3. Endangering physical health. The level of sanitation in the seawater is also not guaranteed, because the sewage, waste residue, waste oil and various chemicals generated by manufacturing and operations are constantly entering the sea. Therefore, the hygiene of seawater cannot be guaranteed, and drinking seawater is likely to have adverse effects on the body.

What should I do after drinking a lot of seawater?

If the human body unintentionally drinks a large amount of seawater, it should be remedied by drinking a large amount of fresh water, because a large amount of fresh water can dilute the excessive intake of minerals and other elements in the body, so that they can be excreted through sweat, urine and vomiting.

The reason why you can't drink seawater directly is that the body can't stand the high salinity, and the bacteria in the seawater have not been killed, and the consequence of drinking seawater directly is to cause different degrees of poisoning. This is because the water that people ingest into their bodies every day passes through the kidneys and excretes it into urine or sweat. The kidneys have limited excretion function, and generally excrete no more than 2% of salt, while the salt content of seawater is as high.

Drinking a small amount of seawater is not harmful to the human body, but drinking a large amount of seawater can cause physical discomfort or dehydration. After drinking seawater, the human body has to excrete about 150 grams of water in order to expel 100 grams of salts contained in seawater. Therefore, drinking slag seawater not only does not replenish the water needed by the human body, but will accelerate its dehydration.

Why is seawater salty?

Seawater is the "home" of salt, and seawater contains various salts, about 90% of which are sodium chloride, that is, table salt. In addition, it also contains magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate, magnesium carbonate and other salts containing potassium, iodine, sodium, bromine and other elements. Magnesium chloride is the main ingredient of the brine used for tofu, and the taste is bitter, so the seawater with a large proportion of salt is salty and bitter to drink.

If all the salt in the seawater is extracted and spread on the land, the height of the land can be increased by 153 meters; If all the water in the world's oceans were evaporated, a 60-meter-thick layer of salt would accumulate on the seabed.

Drinking a small amount of seawater is not harmful to the human body, but drinking a large amount of seawater can cause discomfort.

Seawater contains a large number of salts and a variety of elements, many of which are needed by the human body. However, the concentration of various substances in seawater is too high, far exceeding the sanitary standard for drinking water. The concentration of salt in seawater is four times that of the human body, and the concentration of salt excreted by the human kidneys cannot be higher than 2 at most, but the concentration of salt in seawater is about!

In order for the human body to expel 100 grams of salts contained in seawater, it needs to excrete about 150 grams of water. Therefore, people who drink seawater not only cannot replenish the water that the human body needs, but also dehydrate faster. Some people predict that with the deterioration of the ecological environment, the last way for humans to solve the water shortage is likely to be desalination.

Seawater becomes fertilizer

Potassium is the sixth largest source in seawater, with a total of 600 trillion tons. Potassium chloride is the fertilizer we extract from seawater. Potassium fertilizer is fast-working, easy to be absorbed by plants, and not easy to lose.

Potassium fertilizer can make crop stalks grow stronger, prevent lodging, promote flowering and fruiting, and enhance resistance to cold, diseases and pests.

The potassium in seawater can be used to make potash fertilizers, potassium-containing glass, soft soaps, detergents, etc. Potassium extraction from seawater is mainly used to make potash fertilizer. In addition, potassium is used industrially to make potassium-containing glass, which is not susceptible to chemical corrosion and is often used in the manufacture of chemical instruments and decorations.

Potassium can also be used to make soap and can be used as a detergent.