The intricacies of your lymphatic system
To get a clear picture of the lymphatic system, envision a river system of water flowing beneath your skin and between your organs and tissues. When water is stagnant, algae and bacteria blooms and festers. Your body is no different. The lymphatic system is the largest circulatory system in the body and it is a network of rivers or the root system of a tree that nourishes and delivers waste to nodes for removal. It is a truly beautiful and intricate design and is on the list of never ending things that amaze me about the human body. Our bodies are a direct reflection or and extension of nature.
This blog is going to focus in on what exactly the lymphatic system is, why and how you should keep your lymph moving, and why this is especially important for women’s hormone health.
What is lymph and the lymphatic system?
Essentially, the lymphatic system is the most crucial part of your immune system. The primary responsibilities of this system are to keep your fluid levels balanced, defend your body against infections, and absorption of dietary fats in to the bloodstream.
As a whole, your lymphatic system is a group of organs, vessels, and woking collaboratively to keep you healthy and protect you from infections. This system consists of:
Red bone marrow: Produces red blood cells, lymphocytes (B and T cells), and pluripotent stem cells
Spleen: Functions to filter blood and remove old red blood cells while producing white blood cells
Thymus: Production and training of immune T cells
Lymph nodes: Small glands that function as filters of lymph, removing waste and foreign invaders
Your fluid levels are kept in balance by working as a “sewerage system” and collecting excess fluid surrounding our tissues, referred to as lymph fluid, to deposit into the bloodstream. If not drained correctly, this fluid would cause swelling.
The way your body is protected from infection is the next step. As this lymph fluid is drained into the bloodstream via lymph nodes, it is essentially filtered and scanned through to detect for any bacteria and abnormal pathogens. An adult has an average of 400-450 lymph nodes spread throughout their body, with approximately 70% being found in our gut. When an invader is detected in the lymph, an immune response will be mounted and recruit inflammatory cells into the node to fight it off, which is why you can feel swollen lymph nodes when you are sick.
Lastly, the lymphatic system aids absorption of dietary fats by way of lacteals, or lymphatic capillaries. Lacteals function to transport lipids from the small intestine to blood circulation. Since fats are such large molecules and are not water soluble, they couldn’t dissolve into our circulatory system on their own without lacteals.
lymphatic drainage
It is no coincidence that lymph nodes tend to gather around joints in our body. Movement is truly medicine, and it is absolutely crucial to keeping our lymph flowing. The only way our lymph can move is through our own movement, massage, and dietary choices. We are in almost complete control of this precious system in our bodies.
Signs that you need to assist your lymphatic drainage include:
Water retention/swelling/bloating
Eczema and rashes/itching
Brain fog
Autoimmune disease or recurrent infections
Muscle and joint pain/stiffness
Fibroids or cysts
Weight gain
Headaches
Breast tenderness and swelling before your period
It is vital to keep your lymph moving! If you notice general swelling and a weak immune system, these are two very obvious signs your inner system could use some help. You do not need to partake in intense exercise to accomplish this. Your lymphatic system really just needs more of a gentle support approach with daily, realistic habits built in.
Some ways you can do this:
Lymphatic drainage massage by a professional or on yourself
Movement! Daily walks, yoga, jumping rope or on a trampoline, weight lifting, etc.
Deep breathing. This changes abdominal pressure and essentially wrings out the nodes. In addition, constant elevated levels of cortisol can cause sluggish lymph, or stagnation as Eastern medicine would recognize it.
Acupuncture, Cupping, and Gua Sha can all drastically assist with this stagnation and stuck fluid/energy by targeting the specific areas that need to move and flow
Optimizing your sleep. Sleep comes up as important yet again! It has been found that your brain has its’ own lymphatics, the glymphatic system that removes wastes and plaques with cerebrospinal fluid that are related to Alzheimer’s disease while you sleep.
In addition to physical movement and massage, there are also a plethora of herbs you can incorporate when clearing yourself at the end of an illness or just trying to give your immune system and drainage an overall boost.
Specific herbs to assist with lymphatic drainage and detoxification:
Red Clover is known as a detoxed and blood purifier. Rich in isoflavones and flavonoids (anti inflammatory, anti cancer, antioxidant, and antimicrobial)
Cleavers appear early in Spring time, rightfully so for the cleanse they provide. Steeped overnight and enjoyed as a tea
Calendula contains bitter compounds and anti oxidants that very effectively stimulate lymphatic flow. These steeped dried flowers combine with the above herbs very well as a tea
Burdock Root is very diuretic, so it is important for take while very hydrated. You should be hydrated anyways to support lymphatic flow. It is also loaded with polyphenols and anti inflammatory properties
In addition to all of this movement and herbal allies, be sure to get back to the basics and ensure deep sleep through B vitamins in the morning with sunlight, utilizing heat through hot water and heating pads, staying hydrated, and eating whole foods.
lymphatics and women’ s health
If the above evidence and painted picture on the importance of your lymphatic system was not convincing enough, as the cherry on top it is also vital to your hormone health and having happy periods.
A flowing, healthy lymphatic system is imperative for progesterone flow throughout your body. Progesterone is important not only for balancing build up of estrogen levels, but also for proper sleep, anxiety, bloating, fibroids, regular periods, thyroid health, and more.
In addition, lymphatic drainage aids women’s health by ridding the body of toxins, waste, and excess hormones. If proper movement and drainage is not occurring, estrogen is likely to become dominant and cause a load of issues from weight gain to cysts to painful cycles and possible cancer.
Although ancient, Eastern traditional health systems have recognized lymphatics for some time now, it is still a fairly new system in terms of not overlooking its sheer importance in the Western medical world. From Alzheimers to obesity to estrogen dominance, the lymphatic system is delicate yet extraordinary and certainly deserves our attention.
There are so many benefits regardless to proper movement, diet, and stress control that this system is just one more reason to care for yourself in these ways.
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