La Iniciación · Año IV, Nº 37 · May 1945

1The role played by the salts of K is very important.

2In small doses they excite circulatory activity, raise the blood pressure, accelerate and reinforce the contractions of the heart. [Sic: the Spanish prints circu1atoria, with a numeral.]

3In larger doses they are powerful poisons for the protoplasm, and particularly for the muscular cells.

4They exert an action stimulating rather than nutritive, and facilitate the fermentation of sugar.

5The lack of potassium translates into muscular and cerebral decay, thinness and constipation.

6The foods richest in potassium are: egg yolks, coconuts, lentils, peas, olives, chestnuts, cherries, tomatoes, blackberries, potatoes, apples, lettuces, radishes, cucumbers, artichokes, carrots, onions, plums, grapes, cherries, pears, rye, oranges.

7Sodium — Sodium is found in the human being in combinations similar to those of potassium.

8The most important is sodium chloride, which is found preferentially in the organic liquids, such as blood plasma, lymph, bile, sweat, pancreatic juice and urine.

9The general quantity existing in the organism reaches more or less 200 grammes.

10Sodium chloride comes entirely from feeding, in the approximate quantity of 15 or 20 grammes daily.

11It is eliminated through the urine in almost the same proportion, and in part through the sweat, saliva, mucus and faeces.

12The role played by sodium chloride is most important. [Sic: the Spanish prints E1, with a numeral.]

13It facilitates the osmotic phenomena, the disassimilation of the protein substances and the elimination of urea through the urine, as well as the elimination of the urine itself.

14It is found in plums, almonds, rye flour, maize flour, beans, wholemeal bread, oats, coconut, wheat, barley, cherries, walnuts, lettuce, spinach, carrots, radishes, strawberries, squashes, apples, fresh cheeses, eggs, lentils, oranges, escaroles, pears, artichokes, chestnuts and cucumbers.

15The foods richest in sodium are carrots and spinach, in which the sodium content is almost 60 %.

16Magnesium — It is found in the organism in the state of phosphate and carbonate.

17The former always accompanies the phosphate of Ca and, in the muscles and thymus, is found in greater quantity than the latter.

18It is introduced through foods in general and eliminated in part through the urine and faeces.

19It plays a very important role in the organism, not yet well known.

20Its lack provokes mental disturbances, neurasthenia, vertigo, nervousness, bad humour, insomnia, constipation and a hyperaesthesia of the tissues in general.

21It is found in abundance in all the citrus fruits — oranges, grapefruits, limes, lemons — and moreover in strawberries, pineapples, egg yolks (raw), milk (raw), cream, apples, peaches, grapes, cherries, walnuts, whole wheat, oats, dried fruits, spinach, coconut, almonds, chestnuts, blackberries and raw greens in general.

22Calcium — It is found in the organism in the state of fluoride, phosphate, carbonate, sulphate, oxalate, citrate, etc. The fluoride of Ca is found in the bones, with traces in the blood, milk and brain; the phosphate of Ca is found in the tissues and liquids; the carbonate of Ca is found in the otoliths, urine, bones, teeth, etc.; the chloride of Ca is found in the gastric juice; the sulphate of Ca derives probably from the oxidation of the proteins; and the urates and oxalates are found in the sediments of the urine, and the citrate in milk. [Sic: the Spanish prints 1a, with a numeral.]

23The greater quantity of calcium comes from foods, especially vegetable, and from water.

24Its elimination takes place through the kidneys and sweat, but principally through the faeces. [Sic: the Spanish prints hoces, sickles, for heces.] · 11

Our translation, period-faithful. Citable as our translation, never as the source.