I understand that sweat is made up of water, salt and other substances. What is the function of the salt component? Is it just the body's way to get rid of excess salt that could otherwise contribute to dehydration?
by 
Jetgirl
ANSWERS: 1
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No, it's not the body's way of getting rid of salt. Salt does not contribute to dehydration, in fact, if anything, salt delays dehydration. The function of salt in our body is to enable the transmission of nerve impulses -- the average human has more than 1 cup of salt in their body -- there is salt in every single cell. So the reason sweat and tears are salty, is the same reason the ocean is salty -- there's just a lot of salt there, and it gets into everything. The relationship to dehydration is that if you don't have enough salt in your body -- or you loose salt from excess sweating -- you can get dizzy spells, and become very sick.
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