every living organism we know of requires water to survive it's part of the reason we look so feverishly for water on other planets Across the Universe and consume it consistently every day here on Earth so what would happen to your body if you stopped drinking water of course when we say water we're including all fluids which simply contain water like juices pop or tea much like the desire to breathe in oxygen thirst is a survival Instinct H2O is the most abundant molecule in the human body making up on average 65% of an adult as a
universal solvent it carries nutrients and hormones through the body regulates body temperature cushions our joints and even lubricates our eyes you produce around 1.5 L of urine every day with another liter lost from breathing sweating and pooping so it's essential that the body replaces this liquid The Thirst center of the brain is located in the hypothalamus and is constantly using sensors in your blood vessels to monitor the amount of sodium and other substances in your body for example if you sweat too much your blood volume and pressure fall the brain then detects this change and
creates the urge to drink something now so what happens if you're unable to satisfy this thirst the initial signs of dehydration are the obvious dry mouth following which your urine becomes darker with a stronger odor as your body attempts to conserve more fluids the lack of H2O then begins to affect your brain you might feel light-headed have a slower response time and decreased ability to feel pain in fact when you're dehydrated your brain tissue literally shrinks in studies observing hydrated versus dehydrated participants the same task required more brain power and oxygen in dehydrated individuals compared
to those fully hydrated after a day or two with no fluids you'll stop peeing altogether have trouble swallowing suffer from muscle spasms and likely experience nausea after all your body can survive without food much longer and attention to digestion is not a priority at this point eventually victims may become Delirious with severely impaired brain function interestingly studies looking at elderly patients who suffer from delirium found that many are simply suffering from chronic dehydration in the first place after even more time without water the blood stops flowing to your skin reducing heat loss but increasing your
core body temperature this can lead to a gray bluish tinge to your skin Beyond 3 to 5 days without water and your body will begin to shut down its organs and eventually the brain of course unlike the plentiful oxygen we breathe only 2.5% of All Earth's water is fresh most of which is locked up in glaciers ice caps and underground Lakes known as aquifers leaving less than 1% available for drinking and most of this water is actually used to grow crops approximately 500 billion lers of fresh water is used daily for agriculture in the USA
alone with another 500 billion lers to cool electric power plants and as our personal drinking sources become increasingly contaminated over 783 million people on Earth are unable to access clean water scientists around the world are trying to find solutions to this problem from attempts to remove salt from the ocean water tap into underground acers and creating Innovative water filtration systems if we look to space NASA has developed technology for astronauts to turn their urine into water more pure than what we drink on Earth but we can't just rely on Science and Technology perhaps the solution
relies on us as a species to understand and contribute to This Global Water Crisis if you want to help in the mission to end Global thirst join in World water day on March 22nd there are a lot of really amazing projects out there like water.org or even the awesome UNICEF app which donates one day of clean water to a child in need for every 10 minutes you put your phone down we'll leave links in the description for these and other great water Charities small Investments really do make a huge difference we'll be donating all the
proceeds from this video to a water project close to us called Morocco 5 Villages so thanks for supporting and watching And subscribe for more weekly science videos
