Healthful Living

Chapter 28—The Skin and its Functions

Physiology of the Skin

Elimination

791. Impurities are constantly and imperceptibly passing from the body, through the pores, and if the surface of the skin is not kept in a healthy condition, the system is burdened with impure matter.—How to Live 4:60. HL 188.1

792. The burden of labor is thrown upon the liver, lungs, kidneys, etc., and these internal organs are compelled to do the work of the skin.—Testimonies for the Church 2:524. HL 188.2

793. The skin needs to be carefully and thoroughly cleansed, that the pores may do their work in freeing the body from impurities.—Testimonies for the Church 3:70. HL 188.3

794. You have not given your body a chance to breathe. The pores of the skin, or the little mouths through which the body breathes, have become closed, and the system has been filled with impurities.—Testimonies for the Church 3:74. HL 188.4

795. Its million little mouths are closed, because they are clogged by the impurities of the system, and for want of air.—Testimonies for the Church 1:701. HL 188.5

796. They breathe the same air over and over, until it becomes impregnated with the poisonous impurities and waste matter thrown off from their bodies through the lungs and the pores of the skin.—How to Live 4:63. HL 188.6

Absorption

797. If the garments worn are not frequently cleansed from these impurities, the pores of the skin absorb again the waste matter thrown off. The impurities of the body, if not allowed to escape, are taken back into the blood, and forced upon the internal organs.—How to Live 4:60. HL 189.1

798. Many are ignorantly injuring their health and endangering their lives by using cosmetics... When they become heated, ... the poison is absorbed by the pores of the skin, and is thrown into the blood. Many lives have been sacrificed by this means alone.—The Health Reformer, October 1, 1871. HL 189.2