Why do they say that you should never consume sea water?

Answer 1

Consuming a bit of sea water is alright, however in large amounts it is not a replacement for fresh water, as it will unbalance the amount of sodium in your body and make you ill.

Answer 2

The salt in the sea water will get into your cells and push out the water thats supposed to be there. Ultimately making you dehydrate. The cells in your body are 97% water and 3% salt.

Answer 3

The level of salt in seawater varies, but it is usually more than 1/2 cup per gallon of water!

The body's energy source is entirely electrochemical,
which means that salt can greatly affect you; either making you very weak or very ill. The proper
percentage of salt in your body is referred to as your electrolyte balance.
Since the body will try to keep its balance, i.e.
getting rid of unwanted stuff- you may end up throwing up all you drank- which will dehydrate you
even more than salt water!
The body does still need salt however- not too little,
not too much. In an emergency-lost at sea for example- you can try starchy foods that nullify the overdose of salt in seawater. Pasta and potatoes- both uncooked- are common choices.

Answer 4

You should never drink sea water because of its high salt content. In order to balance the salt in the veins, fluid is pulled from the tissues leaving the person dehydrated.

Answer 5

Drinking sea water, or any solution of higher concentration than what exists naturally within in your body, will cause your cells to lose water through a process called osmosis. Osmosis is based on the principle that two solutions of different concentration, when separated by a permeable membrane (your cell walls in this case), will eventually reach equal concentrations by the passing of solvent (water) from the least concentrated solution to the most concentrated solution. However, since salt water has a higher concentration salt than the solution within your cells, your cells will shed water in an attempt to dilute the salt water. Since the difference in concentration of salt in your body and sea water is so great, your body will eventually shed all of its water in an attempt to lower the salt concentration of the sea water, unltimately ending in your death. Don't quote me on this, but it would seem that diuretic drugs probably operate on the same principle.

Answer 6

well..it will kill you.

read the book.....hmmm, title escapes me now, about the USS Indianapolis. true story. the ship just delivered the atomic bomb to be dropped on japan, and was returning to the US...hit by a torpedo, and the story is how some of the crew survived in shark infested waters for 8 days....many died after drinking salt water..

have a nice day

Answer 7

sea water has a very large amount of salt in it, and it would cause your body to dehydrate

Answer 8

It actually makes your thirst much worse. The salt concentration is about 4 times the salt concentration in your blood, so it actually sucks water out of you, infinitely intensifying your death by thirst

Answer 9

salt in the water dehydrates you faster than drinking nothing at all.

Answer 10

Salt.