What is the lymphatic system and why should you care?
Do you experience chronic illness? Do you struggle with unexplainable acute symptoms rising at times? Is your immune system weakened? Do you feel sluggish, toxic?
Though often overlooked and misunderstood, many consider the lymphatic system to be even 2x more important than even our arterial blood supply system. Why? In your body you have 3x more lymphatic fluid than blood, and this lymphatic fluid is in charge of eliminating cellular wastes from your body. The lymphatic system works closely with the immune system to remove toxins, wastes, pathogens and even rogue cancer cells from the body. Healthy lymphatic drainage then is not only paramount during a detox program, it’s important for overall health and well-being.
Your lymphatic system does not have it’s own pump. Your lymphatic system requires you to move, it requires you to cause muscle contraction to move the lymph. This is why physical activity is essential for creating great health. Walking, running, biking, swimming are all great options, but the one considered the best fitness activities for supporting the lymphatic and immune systems is rebounding. Many health enthusiasts, including success guru Anthony Robbins rebounds everyday.
A rebounder—a mini-trampoline, is revered as best because it moves the lymph through the G-Force pull (the pull away from gravity) on every cell and tissue in the body, including the cerebral spinal fluid. By bouncing up and down on a rebounder, you literally pump the flow of lymph through what are normally one-way channels. This action produces a powerful detoxifying benefit beyond any other “horizontal” fitness practice you can do because of the vertical, force-flow of lymph fluid. Rebounders are available at most sports stores, but the premier one to note is Bellicon, which is only available at their website.
7 Tips to Move Your Lymph:
- Drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water everyday
- Add citrus, preferably lemon or lime to your water or to dress your salad
- Add ginger and turmeric root to your teas, your smoothies and juices
- Include lots of leafy greens
- Experiment with different adaptogenic herbs, like rhodiola, Fo Ti Tieng, and Siberian Maral Root
- Add sea vegetables to all your meals
- And my favorite personal care practice to support healthy lymphatic drainage: Dry brushing. Dry brushing not only removes dead skin cells from our body, it reduces cellulite and activates waste removal by releasing toxins via our lymph nodes.
