Drink Salt Water or Not? – What You Should Know about It

Drinking salt water is a new wellness trend. In this health tip you can find out what the brine treatment is supposed to bring, why you should refrain from it and how salt water affects the body.

Drinking salt water – this is what happens in the body

The human body needs salt for numerous functions.

• The natural salt content in the human body is 0.9 percent. This concentration should not be exceeded.
• If you drink salt water, the concentration is usually significantly higher. Seawater, for example, has a salinity of 3.5 percent.
• If you drink a lot of salt water, the body tries to compensate for the excessive concentration.
• In order to achieve a balance between salt levels in the blood and in the cells, the body removes fluid from the cells.
• In principle, if you quench your thirst with salt water, you will die of thirst.

Drinking salt water is good for your health – what’s the point of the brine cure?

A wellness trend promises to detoxify the body with regular drinking of salt water .

• In addition, the increased production of gastric acid stimulated by the salt water should allow food to be digested more quickly. Regular consumption of salt water should also help with weight loss.
• Even if the brine cure were to keep what it promises, which has not been proven – it is by no means healthy.
• Too much salt is unhealthy for the body – even if the amount of salt ingested does not cause the reaction explained in the first paragraph.
• For example, too much salt leads to high blood pressure. A maximum of 5 grams of salt per day is recommended. Most people consume more than recommended through their diet.

Swallowing seawater – is it dangerous?

If you accidentally swallowed some sea water, you don’t have to worry about your health.

• The body can cope well with this amount of salt water.
• It only becomes dangerous if you regularly supply the body with highly concentrated salt water, such as during a brine cure.
• You should also never quench your thirst with salt water and therefore drink sea water.