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What happens when the body is "thirsty"?
About 70% of the human body is composed of water, blood circulation, metabolism, digestion and absorption, delivery of nutrients... Every life activity is inseparable from it.
But many people seem to have never cared about the "small thing" of drinking water, and if they don't dry their mouths, they think that the water in the body is sufficient and they don't take the initiative to drink water.
What happens when the body is "thirsty"? "Life Times" (search for "LT0385" in WeChat to pay attention to) takes you to see the consequences of chronic water scarcity.
Audit specialists
Cao Ying, deputy director of the Department of Geriatrics and General Medicine of Aviation General Hospital
This article was edited by Xu Wenting
Drawing 丨 Ma Hongliang
The Blood Department requests support
Water is unevenly distributed in human organs and tissues, with blood having the most water content. When there is not enough water, the blood becomes thicker and the electrolyte concentration increases.
As a result, the blood department sends an alarm to the brain through the nerves, which in turn produces a feeling of dry mouth and tongue.
The brain gives instructions
After the brain receives the relevant request, it immediately orders the whole body to turn on the "drought mode" and redistribute the water stored in the body to ensure the normal functioning of vital organs.
The systems in the body receive commands
The mouth that receives the command immediately emits a "thirst" signal: it gradually dries up, the tongue is slightly swollen, and even emits a strange smell.
The urinary system also responds, the renal tubules strengthen the repeated absorption of water, begin to concentrate the original urine, and the urine flowing to the bladder becomes more and more yellow.
The digestive system instructs the large intestine to absorb the water in the feces, the stomach and the small intestine lack of water, turn on the "touch the fish" working mode, and the body has symptoms such as decreased appetite.
At the same time, the skin hands over the accumulated moisture to the tissues of vital organs, becoming dry and dull.
The body lights up red
Under the insistence of various systems of the body, if the dehydration situation is still not alleviated, important organs will also face the situation of dehydration, not only the above symptoms will be aggravated, but also shock, coma may occur; when the water loss reaches 15% of the body weight, it will even be life-threatening.
If the body is "chronically dehydrated" for a long time, it will also increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, gout and even cancer.
- Ends -
It is recommended not to wait until thirsty before drinking water, because the body is obviously dehydrated at this time. For a person weighing 75 kilograms, when thirsty, the body has lost 1.5 kilograms of water.
The Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2016) recommend that ordinary adults should drink 1500 to 1700 ml (7 to 8 cups) per day, of which 1500 ml for women and 1700 ml for men; breastfeeding mothers within 6 months after childbirth should drink an additional 1000 ml per day; children should drink about 1200 ml.
The best way to drink water is to drink a small amount of water, many times, in small sips, slow drinking, about 200 ml each time, it is not recommended to drink more than 500 ml at a time. When the weather is hot, strenuous exercise, and outdoor activities are excessive, the amount of water should be increased as appropriate. ▲
Editor of this issue: Zhao Ziying