Why do animals love salt? Detailed answer

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Why do animals love salt? Detailed answer

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Why do animals love salt?

The passion for salty foods in both humans and animals is one of the most interesting mysteries of wildlife. We know that for thousands of years man has valued salt and used it for cooking. In ancient Mexico, salt was considered such an important product that every year a beautiful girl was sacrificed to the salt god.

Today, examples are known when a prisoner in prison, who was brought food without a grain of salt in it, began to go crazy from its lack. The fluid circulating in our body is a salt solution. Since our body releases a certain amount of moisture from itself in various ways, with which the body loses salt, these losses must be compensated.

Salt reserves on Earth are distributed in such a way that a huge amount of it is contained in ocean water, while on land its reserves are relatively small.

Plants contain a small amount of salt, and it is washed out of the soil by rains into rivers and further into the seas and oceans. Animals - inhabitants of the land, however, once descended from marine inhabitants. The composition of their body juices is the same as that of their ancestors, and similar to sea water!

And since neither the plants nor the soil can provide them with enough salt, they pounce on any salty food with such greed. Only carnivores, that is, those that eat other animals, do not have a special craving for salty food: they get salt along with the meat of their victims. In contrast, most herbivores are very fond of salt.

Author: Likum A.

Random interesting fact from the Great Encyclopedia:

What are our bones capable of?

The strength of normal healthy human bones is amazing. There is a saying that our bones are "twice as strong as oak", and this is not far from the truth. Bones must be strong, as they form the frame or skeleton that supports our body. Diverse in shape and size, the bones correspond to the type of animal to which they belong. Fish and small birds have tiny bones. Elephant bones weigh several hundred kilograms!

All bones are made up of the same components. The bone consists of a core, a grayish-white substance, 2/3 of which is an inorganic or mineral substance, mainly calcium phosphate. This gives the bones strength, but excess of this substance makes the bones more brittle.

The third component is organic matter. It gives the bones elasticity, which helps resist fractures. Some types of bones contain a fatty substance called bone marrow. It is an organic substance with nutritional value. There is also a small amount of water in the bones, which dries out as the body ages. When the water in the bones dries up, the composition of minerals increases, the bones become more brittle, grow together and heal more slowly.

For example, if the arm bone is broken, it must be firmly fixed at the fracture site so as to be immobile. Otherwise, you will not be able to use your hand afterwards.

Healing is facilitated by tiny cells called osteoblasts. They produce lime, which makes the bones hard and strong again. These cells also help bone growth. Other cells are called osteoclasts. They destroy old tissue and thereby promote bone growth. This double process of building and destroying goes on in the bones all the time.

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