Question

A shipwrecked sailor is stranded on a small desert with not fresh water to drink. He knows he could last without food up to a month, but if he didnt have water to drink he would be dead within a week. Hoping to postpone the inevitable, his thirst drove him to drink the salty seawater. He was dead in two days. Why do you think drinking seawater killed the sailor faster than not drinking any water at all?

Answer 1

Answer: The salt dried and dehydrated him even further.

Explanation: When we become dehydrated, the sodium concentration in the body is already elevated. Adding salt only aggravates the condition by forcing the kidneys to excrete more water in order to eliminate the extra salt.