The waste products or impurities which accumulate in the tissues, blood vessels, sinuses etc. are combinations of acids or toxins with minerals or proteins. The job of the minerals or proteins is to bind the acids or toxins which are damaging or even destructive for the organism, and transform them into a chemically neutral form. When an acid or toxin of this kind is combined with a mineral, this is referred to as a salt.
Waste products can be stored in the body as actual stones – well-known examples are kidney stones, bladder stones and gallstones. They are named according to the minerals and acids which make them up. Thus a waste product made up for instance of uric acid and calcium is known as calcium urate, while if oxalic acid is involved, we then refer to calcium oxalate.
In terms of the acids, the salts of uric acid are known as urates, the salts of oxalic acid are known as oxalates, the salts of sulfuric acid are sulfates etc.
