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1/
Why is our thirst immediately quenched after the ingestion of water?

As we'll note, it takes ~10 minutes for serum osmolarity to change. And yet thirst drops far more rapidly.

Something must be bypassing the blood...
2/
Though I suspect we all agree that thirst is quenched rapidly after a sip of water, some of you will demand data.

If you infusion 5% saline, thereby increasing osmolarity, thirst shoots up. But, as soon as drinking is allowed, thirst drops.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19523569/
3/
Notice that in the experiment in tweet 2, the serum osmolarity had NOT dropped when thirst plummeted.

This is because it takes 10+ minutes for ingested water to be fully absorbed into the bloodstream, decreasing osmolarity.

link.springer.com/article/10.375…
4/
Amazing research has shown that the subfornical organ (the site that typically responds to SERUM osmolarity and/or angiotensin II levels) receives DIRECT inputs about what we place in our mouth during eating and drinking.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27487211/
5/
Information about the composition of the food/liquid we eat allows the subfornical organ (SFO) to predict our future blood osmolarity.

It then changes our behavior accordingly.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27487211/
6/
We eat something salty, the SFO receives this input and says: "Your osmolarity is about to go up. Be thirsty! Drink!"

We drink a glass of water, the SFO receives this input and says: "Your osmolarity is about to go down. You can slow down on the water. Be less thirsty!"
7/
All of this happens well before our serum osmolarity changes. Our brain anticipates changes and pre-emptively modulates our behavior.

SO COOL!
If you infuse fluids and drop the serum osmolarity, thirst should drop quickly.

This is the opposite of what is seen in tweet 2 above.

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