can a person live just drinking salt water?

Question

this question is for my laboratory.

Answer 1

Let's say you're alone on a raft in the middle of the South Pacific, with no fresh water to speak of. What are the health implications of drinking salt water?

The answer is that we only need a small amount of salt to live. According to the Salt Institute (a non-profit association of salt producers, founded in 1914), the recommended daily dose is around 500 mg/day--around a quarter of a teaspoonful.

But when we're talking about seawater, we're not just talking about common salt. Other compounds and elements and minerals called salts are found in ocean water, such as epsom salts, potassium salts, iodine salts, and so forth.

Which gets us at last to your question--what happens if you drink seawater? Let's assume you don't it throw up immediately.

Take a lot of salt into your body and your metabolism very quickly goes into crisis. From every cell, water molecules rush off like so many voluntary firemen to try to dilute and carry off the sudden intake of salt. This leaves the cells dangerously short of the water they need to carry out their normal functions. They become, in a word, dehydrated. In extreme situations, dehydration will lead to seizures, unconsciousness, and brain damage. Meanwhile, the overworked blood cells carry the salt to the kidneys, which eventually become overwhelmed and shut down. Without functioning kidneys you die. That is why we don't drink seawater.

Answer 2

Terribly sorry again to the microbiologist above --bacteria boy or man or whatever--, but the reason why a person who drinks salt water would actually die BEFORE a person who drank no water at all is because salt causes the cells in your body to become hypertonic. This means that the salt water has a higher solute concentration than your cells which will cause your cells to lose water by osmosis (hence dehydration.) Cells try to equilibrate their surroundings to achieve an isotonic state. You don't dehydrate just from throwing up. The guy above is a quack! My apologies. I note my harshness may make me lose out on a "best answer" but at least mine is the truth. That's worth it to me. ;)

Answer 3

Lots of answers that are right, but for the wrong reason. If you try drinking a glass of salt water, your body will reject it. By that I mean you will just throw it back up. This happens because the body doesn't want all the things mentioned above to happen, and so ironically, drinking salt water will literally dehydrate you even more due to fluid lost from the stomach when you throw up.

Answer 4

No. Just like a horse in the desert, it can't eat things with sand because it collects in the intestines. You must take the salt water, presumably you mean ocean water, and boil it with a top to allow the salt to accumulate to the top so you get FRESH Water to drink. If you were stranded on an isladn, you would have to do this.
The thing about what we consider "salt water" is that we usually mean oceanic water. This contains other things besides salt, such as bits of rock and other impurities. Also, osmosis would cause the person to become severly dehydrated if ALL they drank was sodium-filled water.

Answer 5

In my Air Force survival training I was taught that drinking salt water actually makes you more thirsty and dehydrated. Too much of it and it could cause brain damage and death.

You want salt? Just eat a pretzel and sip a margarita.

Answer 6

I dont think so, the salt water would make you dehydrated faster thats why they say if you are stranded at sea never drink the water.

Answer 7

no it will kill from dehydration by forcing the water out from your cells because of the salt coming into the cells. you would die within maybe a day depending on how much you drink

Answer 8

For a time, you could - I'm not sure how long - but your body needs vitamin C for your immune system, you need vitamins for alot of things - you get ricketts for instance without vitamin C for several months. You could live probably a few months but you'd feel miserable without having protein for energy and stuff. I mean you could fast for a week like that and probably feel great. But in the long run - you'd be putting alot of undue stress on your body and decreasing your longevity in a major way.

Answer 9

Depending on the concentration, but a strong no to your qns.
Cell fluids will diffuse out if you keep drinking salt water.
Dehydrating ur body.

Answer 10

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