The Lymphatic System
Next stop in the drainage funnel is the lymphatic system. This is the step that most people overlook but it is a crucial step when optimizing drainage!
When you google the lymphatic system, you get a lot of descriptions like this:
Your lymphatic system is part of your immune system and it has many functions. These include protecting your body from illness-causing invaders, maintaining body fluid levels, absorbing digestive tract fats, and removing cellular waste.
In the mind of a practitioner who practices outside the Western medicine scope, we tend to think of it this way:
Think of your lymphatic system as a network of tissue and organs that help move toxins and waste out of your body while also protecting you from infection and disease. Its primary function is to transport lymph fluid throughout the body. It also absorbs and transports fatty acids from the digestive system into the circulatory system, which provides our bodies with fuel.
Now the lymphatic system sounds like the big player it is, right?
Function
The lymphatic system is a network of tissues, vessels, and organs that work together to move a colorless fluid called lymph back into your bloodstream.
This network of tissues, vessels, and organs are connected together by lymph nodes. Lymph nodes are located throughout your body and they act as a filter to catch harmful substances your body does not need (think of them like a pool filter). Located inside the lymph nodes are infection fighting white blood cells, which attack bacteria, toxins, and viruses and then shuttles these toxins and waste products back into the bloodstream. Your kidneys or liver remove the toxins and waste from the blood, and they are removed from the body through bowel movements or urine (now you see why we’re working backwards up the drainage funnel?).
Numbers
Twenty liters of plasma flow through your body’s arteries and smaller arteriole blood vessels and capillaries every day. After delivering nutrients to the body’s cells and tissues and receiving their waste products, about 17 of those liters are returned to circulation. The remaining three liters seep through the capillaries and into your body’s tissues. The lymphatic system collects this excess fluid, now called lymph, from the tissues in your body and moves it along until it ultimately returns it to your bloodstream. From here, it moves into the kidneys or liver and is excreted from your body via bowel movements or urine.
Problems
Lymph does not always flow as well as needed. This is because the lymphatic system lacks a pump to move the fluid. Like the pool filter I mentioned above, your lymphatic system can also become blocked due to a variety of factors:
Dehydration
Exposure to toxins
Infections
Lack of movement
Lack of sleep
Poor diet
Stress
Trauma
How do you know if your lymph is sluggish?
Do you experience any of these signs and symptoms (remember, symptoms are your body’s way of alerting you to a problem):
Brain fog
Cellulite
Chronic fatigue
Constipation
Dry, itchy skin
Enlarged lymph nodes
Increase in the times you experience the cold and/or flu
Joint pain (especially in the morning)
Stiff muscles
Tissue swelling
Don’t fret, friend. There are many things you can do to help get your lymph moving. Stay tuned for my next post.
This is not meant to be taken as medical advice. This information is meant for educational purposes only.