Is drinking sea water really that bad in critical situations?
I just read a story about three boys from New Zealand surviving for about 50 days at see by drinking rain and see water:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101125/ap_on_re_as/as_south_pacific_rescue
Now I am thinking is it possible that see water could save your life as long as you don't drink too much? Could it be that the survival guides exaggerate its bad effects?
It's not that seawater has something poisonous in it that's bad for you - it's that it actually dehydrates you further, due to all the salt in it.
Long story short - salt "attracts" water. And if you get too much of it in your body, that means that more salt than you're used to will end up heading toward your bladder. Unfortunately, this means that it pulls extra water along with it.
Having extra water headed for your bladder is a really bad thing. As strange as this sounds, it means that the salt water actually SPEEDS UP how fast you're becoming dehydrated.
Edit: Keep in mind, the article doesn't actually say drinking salt water helped them survive - in fact, it says that it's a good thing they found the boys when they did, since they had finally resorted to drinking saltwater out of desperation.
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