Before we collapse, we can expel a lot of fluid through the three million sweat glands that regulate body temperature , although how long it takes depends on factors such as our physical shape, size and age.
On average, an adult who exerts intense effort generates between 0.7 and 1.5 liters of sweat per hour. The most active people release up to 1.8 liters, and triathletes – a very demanding sports specialty that combines swimming, cycling and cross-country running – exude up to 4 liters every 60 minutes.
According to some studies, the rate decreases when the body has lost between 3% and 5% of its weight. On the other hand, physiologists have also shown that we never stop perspiring , regardless of the degree of dehydration.
It seems that as long as the brain region of the hypothalamus continues to send the command to sweat to the glands, the body will eliminate water through the skin. If it stopped doing so, due to the unlikely depletion of water reserves, the internal temperature would rise to the point of damaging the tissues . Then the gut bacteria would invade the bloodstream and we would die.
