Lively Lymphatics

I guess as a process of desludging during our newly found and much loved awesome practice of macrobiotics, I’ve been down with an absolutely awful spring cold the past few days.  All of the phlegm (luckily no picture on that wikipedia link), coughing, sneezing, headache, nastiness of it has made me really appreciate all the work my lymphatic system does for me on a daily (hourly) basis.  As I research more and more into the intricacies of the human body, I just never cease to be amazed at how it all works together to keep us healthy!  **Pause for a moment of gratitude — REALLY! — to your body and ALL of it’s organs with their individual jobs to do - for doing such a great job!**

So — the lymphatic system:  responsible for removing and replenishing fluids from the joints and tissues throughout the body, transports fatty acids and fats to the circulatory system, and transports immune cells to and from the lymph nodes.  The average human body has 600-700 lymph nodes.  These nodes cleanse your blood.  Blood pumps from your heart through your arteries to capillaries (a little biology 101 here!).  The blood carries nutrients and oxygen to the capillaries, from which the cells take what they need and then excrete toxins, some of which go back into the capillaries.  Dead cells, blood proteins, and other toxic material is removed by the lymphatic system — then the lymph (a pale fluid that is mostly water, of which you have much more than blood) passes through lymph nodes, where toxins and dead cells are destroyed and neutralized. 

The lymph system is two to three times as large as our circulatory system, yet it lacks a pump/heart — so it relies on muscular movement and breathing to move lymph fluid throughout the body.  Macrobiotic eating is amazing, but without a healthy regimen of regular movement that helps the lymph system to be effective, stagnant energy and stagnant fluid can be the recipe for disease and general sludginess. 

10 ways to an optimally healthy lymphatic system:

1. Drink enough clean healthy water, as this is what your lymphatic system is made of.
2. MOVE!  Gentle movement targeting the lymph nodes is essential to the health of your lymphatic system — yoga is particularly beneficial, because you move your body through a full range of motion of all joints and ligaments in complete practice.  
3. Equally amazing movement comes from Tai Chi — performing the essential movements of the spine (a great description of these movements is found in The Healer Within by Roger Jahnke) daily (if not more than once per day!).
4. Invert:  develop a practice of standing on your head in one way or another as this allows your lymphatic system to shift fluids around in your body in a way that is not otherwise possible in daily live — shake some stagnation loose!
5. Twist around to squeeze out stagnant lymph and allow your body to move things through.
6. Laugh!  Surround yourself with people who make you laugh until you cry — literally!  Stomach cramps from laughing are GOOD!  A good belly laugh stimulates your diaphragm which puts pressure on the central lymphatic vessel, pumping fluids throughout your lymphatic system.
7. Take deep breaths — here again, a deep meditation time (even 15 minutes a day) has a profound effect on your health — again, really deep, intentional breathing gets your diaphragm working well and pumping that central lymphatic vessel.
8. Avoid alcohol, caffeine, processed and refined foods, as they add more toxins to your body than your lymphatic system is capable of removing!
9. Eat plenty of organic green vegetables, along with some raw fruits (particularly on an empty stomach) (although these are ‘occasional’ foods for macros, enzymes and acids in raw fruits are powerful lymph cleansers).
10. Drink pure (free from sweeteners and not pasteurized) cranberry juice which contains flavanoids, citric acid, malic acid, and quinic acid with enzymes that help emulsify stubborn fat (a.k.a. sludge deposits) in the lymphatic system.