Physiology of Salt Metabolism
By Dr. Royal Lee
Summary: There's no point talking about—or restricting—the consumption of table salt without considering the potassium level of an individual. So says Dr. Lee in this discussion of the critical relationship between the minerals sodium and potassium in the body. "The present custom of restricting salt for patients with cardiovascular disease seems to be an ill-advised substitute for balancing up their potassium-sodium intake. A deficiency of potassium may be a primary cause of the very condition in which sodium is being restricted, and [more dietary] potassium [may] be the real remedy needed." 1951.
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Potassium: The Dynamic Mineral in Nutrition
By Dr. Royal Lee
Summary: The perfect primer on the roles of potassium and sodium in the body. The key to understanding these major minerals, Dr. Lee says, is to consider where they should be. Potassium belongs in cells, not the blood, while sodium belongs in the blood, not the cells. "When these minerals lose their home," he warns, "they may be the cause of trouble." Dr. Lee discusses the keys to maintaining the proper distribution of these minerals, focusing particularly on the role of the adrenal glands and the need to get more potassium in our diet—which has been largely displaced by sodium in the modern food supply—through the consumption of raw vegetables. From Let's Live magazine, 1958.
