The science of saline – why can we drink pure water, but when we put water into our bodies in other ways, like an IV, must we add minerals to it?
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Water you drink is rarely pure. Tap water has different minerals in it. Ever heard about a state having “hard”
water in it? That because it has higher then average levels of calcium in it.
I have a DI system at work and run the water through 6 different filters in the system to try and get as close to pure water as possible and it’s tested every week for containments, from biological to chemical.
In chemistry, it’s not about the presence of a chemical in the water, but the concentration of the chemical.
You add salts(electrolytes) because your body needs them to carry out various functions. ATP (adenosine triphosphate, short term molecule for energy). generation for examples depends on sodium and potassium ion pumps.
Salt concentration can also have an effect on your blood pressure. So if you are directly injecting water, you don’t want to cause another problem by dropping(or raising I forget which I’m a chemist not biologist/physician) their blood pressure
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