Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-07-06
Eass,1as 49, ~-e>Bi
SALTING ONES FOOD.
1T is SAID TO BE A BREEDER OF
eRiGHT'S DISEASE.
The Way That Chloride of Sodium
Acts Upon the Tissues and the Blood
and Causes DrOpsy Natural Salts
Abundant In Vegetable Foods.

Salt is almost universally used in
civilized countries. 1t is generally re-
garded as a really important article of
diet and most works on dietetics class
chloride of sodium, or salt, as one of
the essential elements of food. But it
is getting to be a question among sci
entific men whether or not salt is nee
eSSary.
i recollect reading some thirty years
ago in q medical journal Il statement
by a doctor who was himself subject
TO rheumatism. He said: Il have been
suffering from rheumatism more or
less for fifteen or twenty years, and
/ have noticed that whenever L eat an
extra quantity of salt l am liable to
new attack" This he considered evil
dence that salt was the cause of the
rheumatism and thought it worth while
10 make u record of ii.
\ few years ago u French physician
published very interesting and re-
markable record of observations that
he had made. He had patient suffer
ing from Bright's disease and upon
looking into his case found that there
was q very small eXcretion of chloride
of sodium. Ordinarily there is passed
out through the kidneys and through
the skin as much chloride of sodium as
we take in our food. The amount tax
en- in with the food varies from Il frac
ton of an ounce to an ounce, some
people using as much as an ounce of
salt in day. The patient was in that
dropsical condition peculiar TO this dis
ease in its advanced stage 1t occurred
TO the physician that as the patient
was eliminating very little salt 1t
might be possible that salt was accumu-
lating in his tissues and that the wa
ter was accommodating in the tissues to
dissolve the salt. So he determined to
eliminate from the patients diet all
the salt except that naturally found In
foods. He placed the patient on 4
Observation-Disclosures diet. and the dropsy
disappeared entirely in three days.
Thinking that this might be an acct
dent, the doctor permitted the patient
to return to the use of salt, and in
three days the dropsy had returned.
Salt was withdrawn again, and the
dropSy disappeared; replaced again,
and the dropsy returned. This was re-
peated seven times and each time
with the same result.
This experiment led to some very
extensive researches and investigations
upon this question. Experiments have
been made upon animals in which
Brights disease had been produced ar
tificially. and the result has been the
demonstration beyond any possible
question that the dropsy of Brights
disease of the kidneys and certain
forms of heart disease is due to the
use of chloride of sodium-cOmmon
salt The salt accumulateS in the It's
sues, and the person gets into the con-
dition of sailed beef. The tissues be-
come saturated with the salt, which
soaks up the water from the blood, the
water accommodating in the tissues more
and more until dropsy appears.
This explains how it is that persons
suffering from Bright's disease are Of
ten so rapidly cured by milk diet
There is little or no salt in milk, and
on this saltless diet the patient very
rapidly RECEIVERS. The kidneys are re-
Eeved of the extra work which has
been required of them, the tissues are
relieved, the salt is rinsed out of the
body, and hence the edema disappears.
This solution of the cause of dropsy
in Brights disease often renders the
cure very simple. Now tie question
arises, If chloride of sodium does so
much harm in Bright's disease, if it
is such a poison to the body that it will
produce drOpsy in a case where the
kidneys are somewhat crippled, then
is it not possible that chloride of sodi-
UNI is an unnecessary addition to our
dietary and is doing a vast amount Of
mischief all the time in the quantities
in which we use it? | met a woman
recently who had incipient Bright's
and 1 said to her, You must
the use of salt in your
dietary" Drop out salt?' said she.
"Why, use a great deal of salt"
Possibly that is the cause of the dis
ease. Those causes which are most
universal in their operation are the
very ones that we are most apt to over
look.
The uncivilZed North American In
dams did not eat salt. A gentleman
whose occupation was that of an In
dian trader upon one occasion men,
toned that when he was starting out
on a trading expedition he always put
into his saddlebag a supply of two
aSd common salt.
(Tomfulla is corn that has been roast
ed, parched. then pounded fine in
large wooden mortar made by hollow
ing out the stump of tree by burning)
When he came TO a little stream lie
could mix the parched corn with wa
ter and little salt, and he was pro-
vided with all he needed to eat during
his long trip. He stated that he lived
for weeks and weeks on nothing but |
water and salt. But" l |
asked, why did you carry salt with |
your" Because" he answered, 81 |
knew L could not get any from the |
Indians. The Indians eat their tom |
fulla without SALT The Indians of |
the western plains ate no more salt |
than do the cattle of the same plains.
The idea that cattle require salt is |
without any foundation. Feeding salt |