What Would Happen If “Salt” Suddenly Disappeared?

Salt, which has been controversial for years whether it is harmful to health or not, is actually a part of our lives. So in our daily life Salt has more than fourteen thousand uses. It preserves our food, heals our wounds, and even brings good luck according to some beliefs. It is also used in areas such as de-icing, chemical processing, water treatment, farming, oil and gas industry.

Come for us salt formed by the combination of two lethal elements sodium and chlorine Let’s get to know more closely and take a look at what would happen if there were no salt on Earth.

Let’s talk about the benefits first:

Salt helps transmit nerve signals in our body; thus allowing the muscles to contract and relax and the heart to pump blood.

It is useful for digesting the food we eat and fighting infections.

low sodium level in the blood; It can cause fatigue, vomiting, seizures and even death.

High sodium levels can build up between cells and thicken our blood. Thus, it causes the heart to work harder and even stops the pumping function of the heart and causes a complete cessation of the heartbeat.

Our body has 0.4% of our weight in salt, but this salt; It is excreted from the body through crying, sweating and urination.

Adults need 1.5 – 2.3 g of salt per day.

Now let’s talk about what can happen if we go without salt:

In the 1930s, from Cambridge University’s Department of Experimental Medicine, Dr. Robert McCance conducted a “ten days of salt-free life” experiment with four volunteers.

First, McCance had the volunteers expel all the salt from their bodies through perspiration. Afterwards, they literally eat everything they consume with various cooking methods. separated from salt.

After a while, the participants began to be so tired that they could not even eat, and even had a fluid imbalance due to sodium deficiency. “Hyponatremia” They began to show symptoms.

So the blood cells started swelling because to regulate how much water the blood cells consume. there was no salt in their bodies. That being the case, McCance gave the participants salty food again at the end of the experiment, and their energy was quickly restored.

If this was the case in 10 days without salt, what would happen if all the salt on Earth disappeared?

First of all, for a long time Let’s say from the beginning that we cannot live. Not only us, but also animals and plants could not live for long.

As we know from high school, green plants carry the mineral salt and water they take from the soil to the leaves through wood pipes. chlorophyll in leaves they absorb sunlight so photosynthesis reaction takes place in chloroplasts.

As a result of this reaction, plants produce nutrients and oxygen. If there were no salt, photosynthesis would be disrupted and as a result both humans and animals would be without oxygen. Also, plants could not produce food for themselves.

The desalination of the oceans would cause the algae living underwater to die.

Algae balance the osmosis pressure by adjusting their intracellular fluids according to the salinity level. While algae living in salt water prevent water loss by making their intracellular fluids more concentrated, algae living in unsalted water making the intracellular fluids more dilute they reduce water intake. If there is no salt on Earth, algae cannot balance the osmosis pressure, so they cannot live.

Climates would be unstable, fluctuating between extreme heat and extreme cold with an increase in hurricanes.

Temperature directly affects water loss by evaporation from the soil surface. If there was no salt in the soil the amount of evaporation could not be balanced, This would result in inconsistent climatic conditions.

This turbulent weather; to food shortagewould cause oxygen deficiency, headaches, vomiting, and extreme fatigue.

If this were the case, the slightest numbness or chest pain we would feel would indicate an impending heart attack.

Fortunately, there is no such thing as the complete disappearance of salt, but keep your relationship with salt at a consistent level.