The body’s lymphatic system needs to flow like a river. The lymphatic flow means we avoid pools of toxic buildup like stagnant smelly water that we sometimes see in nature. A sluggish lymphatic system makes you more prone to water retention, weight gain, cellulite and fatigue. It can also lead to sore joints, lowered immune system and mood disorders. Frustration, depression, irritability, and general feelings of heaviness are not unusual.
With so much change over the last few years many clients are experiencing increased inflammation, water retention and stagnation. They find it hard to take their health to the next level. Healthy choices that used to give results are no longer working. They feel trapped in someone else’s body.
But there is good news. You can do things to keep your lymphatic system running smooth to keep your body healthy, strong and lean.
The Lymphatic System
The lymphatic system is our body’s ‘sewerage system’. It maintains fluid levels in our body tissues by removing all fluids that leak out of our blood vessels. Your lymphatic system is essential for the functioning of our general and specific immune responses.
The Three Functions Of Your Lymphatic System
The lymphatic system has three main functions or roles:
- Remove excess fluids from body tissues
- Absorb fatty acids and transport fat and chyle (milky liquid containing fat droplets) to the circulatory system
- Produce immune cells such as lymphocytes, monocytes, and the antibody-producing cells called plasma cells that are vital this season!
Symptoms Of A Sluggish Lymphatic System
Your lymphatic system was designed to flow, but when this ‘river of life’ slows down or gets blocked, various health problems and diseases can manifest due to a backlog of toxic lymph.
Some common symptoms of reduced flow of lymph include:
- Puffiness
- Inflammation
- Sore, swollen & painful joints
- Weight gain
- Reduced immune system
- Increased water retention
- Increased cellulite
- Fatigue
- Irritability, depression and frustration
- Increased appetite & food and alcohol cravings (due to elevated acid & toxic load)
Your lymphatic system exists to collect excess fluid from your tissues, purify it and return it to the bloodstream. This is vital because many substances continuously leak out of the blood capillaries into the surrounding tissues.
When the lymphatic system fails to hoover up these excess fluids, they can accumulate, cause swelling and oedema. This in turn may potentially increase the risk of infection due to overloading the immune system.
An Efficient Lymphatic System
A healthy lymphatic system helps defend your body against germs, bacteria, viruses & fungi that may cause illness. This is why a fully functioning lymphatic system is a great friend to have on your side for any cough, cold or flu.
You will know if your lymphatic system is working well, for you will no longer look and feel puffy, and when you wear socks, there will not be a band around your ankle where the sock used to be.
Tight rings and jewellery are also a great way to monitor the health of your lymphatic flow. The lymphatic system was designed to work silently in the background to keep you healthy, and it doesn’t have to be complicated.
8 Best Ways To Keep Your Lymphatic System Flowing
My advice to anyone who needs to support their lymphatic system is to follow these eight practices.
1. Bounce to Pump the Lymphatic System
Bouncing, rebounding or jumping is one of the easiest ways to pump the lymph. Spend 15-20 minutes per day jumping on a trampoline. The activity moves the lymph passively while stimulating blood circulation throughout the body.
Numerous studies have proven its efficiency and even shown that it improves muscle tone. Rebound for 15-20 mins per day. Use a home rebounder or jump on a trampoline with your friends and family; either way, it is super fun, and your body will love it.
Bouning is a great way to shake off stress too! Other activities supporting your lymphatic system include headstands, inversion tables or putting your feet above your heart for 15-20 minutes.
If you have a health condition that doesn’t allow you to bounce, walking or any form of cardio is great, and supporting your liver and lymphatic system with herbs will fast-track your healing.
Limit your animal product intake to fish/seafood. Increase plant-based foods and add herbs like those in our Liver Support and Water Flo Capsules.
Making these changes will support your Lymphatic System Detox pathways, facilitating the removal of acidic wastes and toxins.
2. Hydrate Your Lymph
Lymph is about 95% water, making water essential for it to flow. Stay hydrated by drinking half your weight in ounces of water daily, so if you weigh 120 pounds, you would want to drink around 8 cups of water daily.
The metric calculation for how much water (in litres) to drink a day = Your Weight (in Kg) multiplied by 0.033. For example, if you are 60kg, you should drink about 2 litres of water daily. At 90kg, you’ll around about 3 litres of water. All you need to do is multiply 0.033 by your weight in Kg.
Without adequate water, lymphatic fluid cannot flow properly.
One of the most common causes of lymph congestion is dehydration. Water or herbal tea can adequately hydrate the body, but if you want to expedite the process, start your day with our Rejuv Wellness Water or sip 2 litres daily to reduce cravings.
3. Sweat It Out
Toxins cannot be removed unless you move or sweat since there is no pump in the lymphatic system. A great way to support your lymph detox is to visit a dry sauna 1-2x week or buy an inexpensive FIR-Infrared mat or sauna for your home (I use a Therasage FIR sauna most days, and I love it).
A cold shower after the sauna is best for circulation and always wash your body with an organic soap or body wash and loofah if possible as you don’t want to reabsorb any released toxins.
Any form of cardio that allows you to sweat is also ideal for this acts as a natural pump for the lymphatic system, and it is best to move your body for 30-60 minutes each day.
4. Cleanse Your Lymph With Plants
Incorporating more plants and raw foods into your diet is an easy way to keep the lymphatic system healthy long term. Raw foods offer high levels of naturally occurring enzymes that break down toxic buildup and promote the clearance of harmful substances in the body.
Eating fresh fruits and vegetables is also a great way to boost the hydration levels in the body. Raw foods are primarily alkaline, which helps to neutralise harmful pathogens, lessening the burden on the lymph, supporting your immune system and reducing water retention. If raw foods are hard to digest, have herbal tea on the side.
Enzymes produced by the body to break down food substances are crucial and expedite many metabolic processes. The body utilises enzymes to clear toxic waste buildup in the lymph and blood, making their supplementation a fundamental way to improve lymphatic health.
Using proteolytic enzymes between meals can help to “digest” or break down organic debris in the circulatory and lymph systems, increasing lymphatic flow. They also help to ease the burden of allergy-like compounds, freeing the immune fractions travelling in the lymph system for other work.
Eating pineapple is also high in enzymes but if it’s a little tricky to carry your pineapple slices out to dinner with you, try our Rejuv Digestive Aid Capsules. Take 1-2 capsules before a regular meal & 3-4 before a treat meal, and your digestion will be tip-top.
5. Reduce inflammation
The more acidic you are, the thicker your blood, so the more toxic your lymph. Eating fewer animal products and more plants will reduce acid waste and toxic lymph buildup.
Consuming 3-4 cups of green vegetables per day is ideal, or you can have half of this with a fresh green juice and half actual vegetables to eat.
We live in a toxic world and I recommend taking a super greens powder daily. Try our Rejuv Super Greens Powder or The Super Elixir I formulated for Elle Macpherson.
If you prefer a capsule, you can also take our Rejuv Sea & Soil Green Capsules, which are great if you travel and excellent for thyroid and metabolic support.
If you are prone to water retention I recommend our Water Flo Capsules. You can take these daily as they have no side effects. These capsules are particularly helpful during your period or before and after catching a flight.
6. Ocean Swim
Being submerged in water creates a compression effect from the water on your entire body, including your lymphatic system.
The force of the water on your body causes a significant increase in hydrostatic pressure creating a pump-like effect which in turn has a remarkable impact on supporting the flow of your lymph.
Swimming in a lake or ocean gives you added minerals and good bacteria to support your immune system and microbiome. Swimming pools are ok, but chlorine is very toxic, so choose saltwater pools when possible. Next week I will write a blog about chlorine exposure and how to reduce this, so stay tuned.
7. Lymphatic Massage
We all love a relaxing massage, and here’s another reason: A lymphatic massage targets the flow of lymph in your body. It uses pressure and rhythmic movements to stimulate the lymph and encourage its progress towards your heart to drain fluid and waste.
Studies have found that lymphatic massage may push up to 78 per cent of stagnant lymph back into circulation. The circulation mobilises toxins for clearance, lessening the burden on the lymphatic system.
We offer bespoke Physio Lymph Detox at the Rejuv Wellness Clinics in the UK. Our highly qualified physiotherapists incorporate lymphatic drainage with their musculoskeletal therapies. It is a powerful combination, especially in summer, when you want to reduce body fat and cellulite.
Dry skin brushing is a brilliant way to assist lymphatic flow and boost circulation. You use a dry brush with coarse bristle and brush the skin towards your heart.
8. Ladies, Remove Metal Underwires In Your Bra
One of the most significant clusters of lympf nodes in your upper chest area drain the breasts and arms. Underwire bras can impede your lymphatic flow if it is too tight and restrictive (this is the case for most of us).
Some researchers believe that this can cause long-term impairment of lymphatic function over time. It may contribute to an array of conditions, including fibrocystic breast tissue, swollen lymph nodes and breast cancer.
If you must have the extra support, choose underwire bras with plastic and not wire. Bend to check if your underwire is plastic as it will bounce back, whereas metal will not.
Also, on an EMF note, the bra wire picks up lots of WiFi-Signals, acting like an antenna which may also increase your risk of breast cancer.
Regular Cleanse & Detox After Holidays & Weekends
Each Monday, I cleanse after the weekend. I always follow the tips above. When I am on holiday, I take our Rejuv Party Pack with me to reduce toxic build-up. I have one of our packs ready when I get home to detox and cleanse after all the fun of rich foods and drinks.
This allows me to relax when I’m indulging, because I know I’ll cleanse to maintain a healthy mind-body balance when I get home.
If you want a complete lymphatic system detox or flush, you can incorporate the tips above for 2-4 weeks and choose from one of our Rejuv Packs.
To detox, cleanse lymph and burn fat, choose our Metabolism Reset Pack. To do a complete cleanse, use our 30-Day Health Reset. This will:
- cleanse your gut and flush out parasites
- reset your microbiome and help to heal leaky gut
- reduce stress hormones in your body (which causinflammationn and inflammation)
- cleanse and detox your liver and lymphatic system
- balance your blood sugar levels
- boost your metabolism to support fat burning
- support yoinflammationeduce inflammation
- support your gut-brain axis
- help reduce depression and anxiety
- boost your energy levels
- support your immune system
- reset all of your 11 systems
Nurture your Lymphatic System by adding at least three of these tips daily to live with excellent health.
We’re here to help if you have any specific questions about supporting your lymphatic system.
Don’t hesitate to contact us.
