Natural: How to Get Healthy Skin (December 20, 2010)
You may have read that skin is an organ of the body. That means it performs metabolic functions. Functionally the skin can be likened to the lungs—it inhales and exhales.
Many substances can be absorbed into the body through the skin. Some substances penetrate the epidermal and dermal layers through the hair follicles and sebaceous glands. Other substances penetrate the interstitial spaces, the gaps between the cells of the skin.
Skin is an important eliminative organ—it is a means by which the body can eliminate that which it does not want. Skin secretes metabolic waste materials and toxins. It secretes sweat in order to cool the body. It secretes sebum in order to protect the skin itself.
Certainly diet is an important factor in skin health and appearance. But by itself diet is not enough. Skin care—how you clean, nourish, and protect your skin—is equally important.
Virtually all commercial skin care products interfere with the biological functions of the skin; some can block the skin's absorption and secretion, some are absorbed but provide no nutrition and may introduce toxins. This affects the health of the body and of the skin. If you follow the dietary guidelines of the Weston A. Price Foundation, you owe it to yourself to adopt what I call modern natural skin care—a program using products composed solely of natural ingredients known to be beneficial to the skin.