MINERAL SALTS, INCLUDING TABLE SALT, AND WATER ARE NECESSARY TO THE MAINTENANCE OF LIFE AND HEALTH

MINERAL SALTS, INCLUDING TABLE SALT, AND WATER ARE NECESSARY TO THE MAINTENANCE OF LIFE AND HEALTH Living matter (protoplasm) keeps itself alive by the series of constant chemical reactions going on within itself and with-in the liquid medium by which it is surrounded. Living matter (protoplasm) segregates itself into separate microscopic units called cells.

An aggregation of cells with its blood and nerve supply makes up a tissue, like muscle, bone, or nerve tissue. Every tissue has its characteristic type of cells; muscle cells differ in size, shape and color from nerve cells. Each cell is a mixture of complicated organic chemical compounds and of salts and water. About 75% of the cell protoplasm is water; the rest consists of

1.  proteins, which are compounds of the "amino acids" that build cells and produce growth,
2. carbohydrates, which give heat and energy when oxidized, and
3. fats, which serve the same purpose as the carbohydrates. 

Lipoids are fatlike sompounds which are found at the surfaces of cells and probably determine and control the entrance and exit of the other substances, to and from the cell. The "amino acids" and their compounds are the lime, straw, cement and brick that build cells and tissues.

The ability of the compounds which make up cell protoplasm to change instantaneously from one form into another and reverse again, and the physicochemical reactions producing these changes, this instability and equilibrium, are the processes that keep the cell alive; in fact, it is the secret of life.

The physical processes of osmosis, diffusion, surface tension and the electrolytic dissociation into positive and negative ions of salts, acids and bases when dissolved in water are the forces governing and mobilizing the perpetual chemical reactions which maintain the life of every single body cell.

Every tissue of the body consists of single cells which are surrounded by the liquid (tissue fluid) in which the cell is bathed, receiving its nourishment from it and discharging its waste products into it.

The tissue fluid is constantly renewed by the small blood vessels (capillaries) bringing a continuous fresh supply of nourishment and oxygen and removing the waste products.

In this last function, the blood vessels are assisted by the lymph vessels. The blood gets the nourishing material in pure chemical form from the intestines and the liver after the digestion of the food taken into the stomach, and the blood obtains oxygen through the lungs from the inspired air.

The protein, fat, carbohydrates, mineral salts and water we take into the stomach in the form of food change by digestion into two general classes of chemical compounds mixed with or dis-solved in water. These two classes of compounds and the forms in which they are taken up by the blood as nourishment are:

1.  Crystalloids, the salts and sugars.
2. Colloids, the albuminoids, proteoses and peptones, glycogen and fat. 

The characteristics of the crystalloids are that they thoroughly dissolve and diffuse in water; possess osmotic pressure, that is, they will pass through animal membranes (parchment, for in-stance) from a place of higher concentration to a place of lower concentration; and will separate or dissociate while in solution into electrically positive and negative ions (cations and anions).

On account of the presence of electrically positive and negative ions in the blood and elsewhere in body, the body is able to conduct electric currents like a battery.

The characteristics of the colloids are that they do not dissolve in water, but form mixtures and emulsions; do not possess osmotic pressure and, therefore, do not pass through animal membranes; and do not break up into ions.

 The ability of gases to diffuse through animal membranes from a place of higher concentration to a place of lower concentration, as crystalloids do, makes the oxygen of the air pass from the lungs into the blood and from the blood into the cell, and also makes carbon dioxide (CO2), the waste product of cell oxidation, pass in the reverse direction from the cell into the blood and out through the lungs in expiration.

The air taken into the lungs by inspiration needs a certain amount of water (moisture) so as not to dry out the air passages; that the expired air containing carbonic acid (carbon dioxide) also contains water (moisture) you can tell by blowing your breath on a windowpane and noticing the moisture deposited thereon.

While the body cells are collected in masses forming different tissues, as nerves, muscles, etc., and different organs, as the stomach, brain, etc., each individual cell in these tissues leads practically its own individual life existence in the tiny and limited pool of tissue fluid by which it is surrounded.

Viewing the body cell in this light, it is really not different from the "ameba," the living and multiplying pinpoint-sized, single-cell animalcule found in country ponds and shallow waters.