By Professor in the Department of Animal Biology, University of Malaga
Possibly they have heard that when we swim in the sea, body and mind return to their most original state. That we feel phenomenal because it is as if we went back to the maternal uterus or move to very ancestral evolutionary stages, to that of our remote predecessors fish.
Well, all this are nothing more than embryonic and evolutionary versions, respectively, of … a huge myth out of scientific foundation!
As attractive that sounds literally, we have no capacity to remember neither the ontogenetic state of our person as an individual, nor the phylogenetic state of our lineage as a species. In other words, we did not remember how comfortable the amniotic bag was protected when we were fetuses or, much less, we have the ability to know what the taxa felt that preceded us in our evolutionary path until the condition of Homo sapiens current.
What is evident – and repeatedly contrastable and verifiable – is the feeling of well -being that generates a bathroom in the sea.
And be careful, because well -being goes beyond simple pleasure. While pleasure would be the enjoyment of something related to ecstasy or punctual euphoria (that is, it is an immediate sensation), well -being is somewhat deeper, it is a more “consolidated” state of pleasure, harmonious and calm and that transcends the purely sensory. And it is because, while the pleasure is more related to what is experienced, well -being implies more plural aspects such as health, virtue, knowledge or satisfaction of desires.
When we enter the sea, and from this perspective, the purely somatic pleasure would be joined by a much more complex mental well -being, which makes us feel in the very glory.
To the water, ducks
We tend to think about the most obvious: getting into the water refreshes us and that, when the summer heat is raised, is what best counteracts it.
Obviously, we succeed. Covering a physiological need, such as eating when we are hungry or drinking when we feel thirst, it is always pleasant.
But in the case of the bathroom, there is much more.
From the point of view of neurophysiology, it has been shown that Vertical immersion in water generates positive effects most interesting. To begin with, the blood flow rate that runs through the medium and posterior brain arteries increases. In addition, if the immersion is accompanied by low intensity exercise (such as walking in the water), the same speed of cerebral blood flow is achieved as moderately out of water. Less effort for the same benefits. A plum that justifies the good press of the Aquagym.
Together with this increase in cerebral circulatory flow, somatosensory stimuli generated by the increase in hydrostatic pressure produce an increase in cortical brain activityboth in motor and sensory or parietal areas. A Chute For our brain.
Thirdly, with just diving to the shoulders, muscle edema is reduced and cardiac spending is increased (without increasing energy expenditure), which favors generalized blood flow and the transport of nutrients and waste through the body. This, which translates into the Drastic reduction of fatigue sensationis the reason why a session of jacuzzi To athletes after an intense exercise.
Those who do not dedicate ourselves to beat records, what we do notice is how our legs become much lighter to favor venous return.
All the above effects are the result of immersion in the water. But maybe he is thinking that we are not just as good when swimming in a pool as when we do it at sea. And right again.
For the effects derived from the immersion in water, those related to the special nature of seawater should be added.
To swim, the best is the sea
Seawater, as we know, receives continuous river contributions of salts and minerals. Submarine hydrothermal sources and volcanic eruptions of the sea bottom contribute to maintaining their saline concentration (with 35 g/kg of water on average, of which, 80 % correspond to sodium chloride and, the rest, fundamentally, to chloride, sulfate and magnesium bromide).
The direct consequence is double. On the one hand, salt water is denser than sweet. This is a greater thrust and, consequently, a less muscle effort to keep us afloat. In other words, we swim more relaxed at sea because we float more.
On the other hand, salts are absorbed through the skin. That implies a very important contribution to the inhibition of the interruption of the skin barrier caused by dermal irritating agents, which accelerates its recovery and prevents dryness. This fact is especially interesting in the treatment of skin diseases such as contact dermatitis or psoriasis and It has meant the consideration of sea baths as adjuvant therapy in the treatment of chronic dermatitis.
A sea water especially enriched with magnesium salts, such as the Dead Sea, It has also demonstrated an interesting anti -inflammatory action.
To all these beneficial effects we must add the absence of negative actions by additives that, mandatory, appear in the pools. Add chlorine It is necessary to avoid the proliferation of protozoa, bacteria and fungi in the water, but irritates the skin. We avoid that aggression by replacing the pool with the sea.
The sea is more than marine water
We have seen that immersion in water is beneficial and that, in addition, the fact that water is marine is especially advisable to the skin.
But it is not enough to accept Ana Torroja’s proposition in Hawaii, Bombay: The sea bath is much more than getting into a bathtub to which salts have been added.
The large volume of water that accumulates in seas and oceans acts as a very important thermal regulator. The greatest heat capacity of a dense medium (such as water) compared to air works as temperature bufferso that coastal areas are less cold in winter and less hot in summer than areas of similar geographical location but inside. That is a continuum hot air cooling and the establishment of currents]that generate the comforting and fresh sea breeze.
The breeze also brings with it a very high concentration of anions that penetrate the skin but also through the lungs. Its physiological and psychological effects are not negligible: prevention of neurhormonal disorders, Reduction of stress effectsantioxidant action By increasing superoxidodimutase levels And even Acne improvement.
We can still add more beneficial consequences, such as relax that supposes us the intensity of the color blue or the reassuring and sedative effects of the wonderful sound of the accompanying beat of the waves.
Do like me and enjoy the sea because, in addition, it is free.
This article was published in The conversation. Read The original.
