The Respiratory Metabolism of Rats Receiving a Diet Deficient in Inorganic Constituents. The Change in Basal Metabolism

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Abstract
The basal metabolism of young rats kept on a low-salt diet, as well as that of their calorie controls receiving an adequate supply of mineral salts, declined with increasing age during a period of approximately 3 months. The decline was most pronounced during the first month and was greater with the controls than with the low-salt animals. The rats kept on the mineral deficient diet were less active and invariably had a considerably higher basal metabolism than their controls. The salt deficiency apparently had no effect on the respiratory quotients of the fasting rats, which may be interpreted to indicate that the effect on the metabolism was only in relation to the intensity.