Your Lymphatic System and How to Look After It
The human body is amazing.
It is a complex and efficient system designed to keep us healthy and thriving.
One vital piece of that is the lymphatic system.
What is the lymphatic system?
Our lymphatic system is made up of vessels, nodes, organs, and tissues.
It has several important jobs in the body, including:
Supporting healthy fluid levels
The lymphatic system acts like a filter.
It collects excess fluid from the tissues, filters out the bad stuff, and returns fluids to the bloodstream.
Fat Absorption
The lymphatic system helps to transport some of the larger fats that can’t be absorbed otherwise.
Immune Defence
The lymphatic system is part of the immune system.
It creates and releases white blood cells that look for and fight off things that can hurt your body, such as bacteria and viruses.
What hinders the lymphatic system?
As you can see, the lymphatic system is vital to a healthy body.
So, you need to know that there are things that can have a negative impact on the lymphatic system.
Some of those things you might not have any control over, such as tumours or infections.
But there are other things that are under your control and well within your power to change.
Let’s look at those.
Food choices
Like it or not, your food choices have a huge impact on your body, including your lymphatic system.
Refined sugars and processed foods cause a lot of inflammation and fluid retention.
This can potentially make the lymphatic system sluggish.
Insulin Resistance
We’ve talked a lot before about insulin resistance and its impact on metabolic health.
When you have insulin resistance, you have more glucose floating around in the blood.
High blood glucose can cause damage to the lymphatic vessels and impair lymphatic function.
Obesity
Obesity is hard on the body.
As for the lymphatic system, obesity puts more pressure on the lymph nodes and vessels.
Inactivity
Physical activity is good for us in so many ways.
One of those ways is that it helps lymphatic fluids circulate.
How do I know if my lymphatic system is impaired?
If your lymphatic system is suffering, you might experience any of the following symptoms:
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Lymphedema - swelling in the arms or legs
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Skin changes - Discoloration, thickening or hardening, skin infections, blisters, etc.
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Fatigue
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Stiffness
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Swollen lymph nodes
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Headaches
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Digestive issues
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Brain fog
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Weight gain/loss
Best tips for your lymphatic system
Let’s look at ways that you can help keep your lymphatic system running strong:
Fasting
Notice that all the things we mentioned that hinder the lymphatic system are connected.
Insulin resistance, obesity, inactivity, and food choices, these all go hand in hand.
Fasting is one of the best things you can do to fix those problems, and also help your lymphatic system.
Start with at least 18 hours a day of fasting.
And don’t forget that fasting increases autophagy, which will help the lymphatic system do its job.
Eat whole foods
Proper lymphatic drainage is one more reason to stay away from processed foods and refined sugars.
If possible, stick to a ketogenic diet. That means meats, healthy fats, and low carbohydrate vegetables.
Move your body
Try to plan some kind of physical activity every day.
Even just a gentle half hour of walking a day goes a long way in keeping your lymphatic system flowing smoothly.
Stay hydrated
Drink your water!
This will allow lymph fluid to flow more easily and also helps in removing toxins.
Lymphatic massage
Lymphatic drainage massage encourages the movement of lymph fluid through the lymphatic system.
You can google “lymphatic massage” and you’ll find lots of techniques you can try.
Please note: It’s always a good idea to check in with your doctor if you are experiencing symptoms of poor lymphatic drainage.
Keep it flowing!
Thank goodness for our lymphatic system and the job that it does in our body.
Take care of your lymphatic system so it can take care of you.
