Healthful Living

Chapter 27—The Heart and Blood

Physiology of the Circulatory System

737. Perfect health depends upon perfect circulation.—Testimonies for the Church 2:531. HL 178.1

738. The more active the circulation the more free from obstructions and impurities will be the blood. The blood nourishes the body. The health of the body depends upon the healthful circulation of the blood.—The Health Reformer, May 1, 1873. HL 178.2

739. At every pulsation of the heart, the blood should be propelled to the extremities quickly and easily in order to have health.... The current of human life is struggling to go its accustomed rounds, and should not be hindered in its circuit through the body by the imperfect manner in which women clothe their limbs.—The Health Reformer, May 1, 1872. HL 178.3

740. The limbs were not formed by our Creator to endure exposure, as was the face. The Lord provided the face with an immense circulation, because it must be exposed. He provided, also, large veins and nerves for the limbs and feet, to contain a large amount of the current of human life, that the limbs might be uniformly as warm as the body.—Testimonies for the Church 2:531. HL 178.4

741. The limbs and feet have large arteries, to receive a large amount of blood, that warmth, nutrition, elasticity, and strength may be imparted to them. But when the blood is chilled from these extremities, their blood-vessels contract, which makes the circulation of the necessary amount of blood in them still more difficult.—The Health Reformer, April 1, 1872. HL 178.5

742. The extremities are chilled, and the heart has thrown upon it double labor, to force the blood into these chilled extremities; and when the blood has performed its circuit through the body, and returned to the heart, it is not the same vigorous, warm current which left it. It has been chilled in its passage through the limbs. The heart, weakened by too great labor and poor circulation of poor blood, is then compelled to still greater exertion, to throw the blood to the extremities which are never as healthfully warm as other parts of the body. The heart fails in its efforts, and the limbs become habitually cold; and the blood, which is chilled away from the extremities, is thrown back upon the lungs and brain, and inflammation and congestion of the lungs or the brain is the result.—How to Live 5:72. HL 179.1

Nervous Control of the Circulatory System

743. The nerves control the circulation of the blood; ... for instance, you are impressed that if you bathe, you will become chilly. The brain sends this intelligence to the nerves of the body, and the blood-vessels, held in obedience to your will, cannot perform their office and cause a reaction after the bath.—Testimonies for the Church 3:70. HL 179.2

744. You have a determined will, which causes the mind to react upon the body, unbalancing the circulation, and producing congestion in certain organs; and you are sacrificing health to your feelings.—Testimonies for the Church 5:310. HL 179.3

745. The exercise of the brain in study without corresponding physical exercise has a tendency to attract the blood to the brain, and the circulation of the blood through the system becomes unbalanced. The brain has too much blood and the extremities too little.—Testimonies for the Church 3:138. HL 180.1