Why should you avoid drinking seawater?

Drinking seawater is detrimental because its high salt content can lead to dehydration and kidney failure. When you consume seawater, the salt concentration is significantly higher than that in your body. This creates an osmotic imbalance, meaning that rather than hydrating you, the seawater pulls water out of your body's cells to dilute the excess salt. This process can dehydrate you more quickly than if you had not consumed any water at all. Furthermore, your kidneys, which are responsible for filtering out excess salt from your bloodstream, can become overwhelmed and ultimately fail if they are forced to process too much salt. This chain reaction underscores why drinking seawater is harmful and emphasizes the necessity of finding potable water in survival situations.