Why does salt water dehydrate you, but saline/sodium chloride/electrolytes hydrate you?
In: Chemistry
In order for your body to get rid of salt, it needs to dilute it with water. The more salt you consume, the more water you need to dilute it. Normally it is not an issue, since you dont consume too much salt.
Seawater however contains so much salt. So if you drink one glass of seawater you are going to need more than one glass of water to dilute that salt. This means that the water inside of the seawater is not enough to dilute the salt in the seawater, so your body is going to have to get water from other places in your body to dilute the salt, leading you to lose water, and you dehydrate.
Added bonusfact:
The reason diarrhea is dangerous is because it also dehydrates us. This happens because your body is “flushing” itself to get rid of something inside the body. The body takes water and floods your colon and the pressure on your colon makes you have to go poo.
This is dangerous because your body does not care about your hydration, it will prioritize diarrhea. So if you are already dehydrated and eat something bad your body will still flush your colon. So if you got diarrhea make sure to drink enough to replace them liquids!.
Latest Answers