A video has lifted the lid on what really happens to your body if you drink seawater.
It’s common knowledge that water in the sea isn’t safe for us to drink due to the amount of salt humans can safely ingest.
While small amounts are safe, the ‘salt content in seawater is much higher than what can be processed by the human body’, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
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So, what happens to the body if you do drink seawater? Well, one video has revealed it all.
The clip was posted to TED Ed on YouTube where it explains that the danger lies at ‘the cellular level’.
The video continues: “To maintain their structural integrity, your body’s cells match the concentration of certain ions, like salt, within their membranes with the concentration outside of them - in your bloodstream, for instance.
“Seawater is about four times saltier than your blood so when it’s ingested, the fluid outside
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your cells become much saltier. To relieve the resulting pressure difference, water flows out of your cells.
“Your kidneys use this water to begin removing the excess salt but they require much more freshwater to actually flush it all out.
“Consuming enough seawater without any freshwater can lead to salt poisoning. The effects can be devastating as the body’s cells lose water and contract. This can cause tissues to shift and rupture and fluids to collect in critical organs.”
But what if you’re stranded on a boat in the middle of the ocean with no freshwater in sight? Well, there are a couple ‘dehydration don’ts’ you should probably follow.
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The video explains: “Drinking your own urine isn’t recommended because a few days of filtering accumulating waste products without any freshwater relief can cause kidney damage.
“And while it might feel counterintuitive, if you don’t have any freshwater to drink, it’s best not to eat, especially protein-rich food, because your body doesn’t have enough water to digest it
without becoming more dehydrated.”
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The video sparked a large response in the YouTube comment section with many viewers sharing their own reactions.
One user wrote: “It’s scary to think that being stranded out in the ocean is just like being lost/stranded in a desert except it’s a ‘wet desert’.”
Another said: “It was God’s cruelest trick to surround us with water that we can’t drink or it’ll kill us.”
And a third person joked: “If drinking seawater can make someone dehydrated, why is Spongebob and his snail are still alive?”