Everyday Habits That Stimulate the Lymphatic System

The lymphatic system is one of the unsung heroes of the immune system.  It houses a large percentage of white blood cells, and acts as the main drainage system of toxins.  Eating correctly, and exercise are essential components of health, but most people, at least to some degree, ignore their lymphatic system, and thus are not completely maximizing their immune system.

In addition to ridding the body of toxins, the lymphatic system is a component of the circulatory system, aiding it in processing blood, and the interstitial plasma back to the blood that has been filtered.

As covered in a previous article, one of the most thorough activities you can do to stimulate the lymphatic system and aid in its detoxification capabilities is to take a mineral salt bath.  However, that is not an everyday activity.  There are short, daily things you can do to help keep it functioning at an optimal level.

A diagram of the lymphatic system.  It consists of a network of organs, nodes, and vessels.

Have a Little Fruit

If you get hungry in between meals, the best option is a piece of fruit.  Most people are aware of the antioxidants, vitamins, and various nutrients contained in fruit.  But there are also enzymes that act as cleansing agents for the lymph system.  That is one reason fruit is used as part of a detox diet.

Practice Deep Breathing

 

It is said that he who half breathes, half lives.  As stated above, the lymphatic system is part of the circulatory system.  While there are organs involved in the production of lymph, there is no organ that is responsible for distributing it through the body.  That is done via respiration.  Deeper, stronger breaths will move the lymph more effectively.

Exercise

 

If deep breathing stimulates the lymph system, then it only stands to reason that doing the very thing that is most likely to cause deep breathing will also be beneficial.  In addition, exercise makes everything flow faster - the alimentary chain, the blood, the sweat of toxins from the body.

Skin Brushing

 

Dry skin brushing is one of the lesser known ways to stimulate the flow of your lymphatic system.  The technique on how to do it is here.  It can be done before a shower, and it only takes about three minutes to complete.

 

Contrast Temperatures in the Shower

 

For some of you, maybe for most of you, this won't exactly be the most comfortable of the options.  But it is very beneficial, and doesn't take any extra time.  You are doing it during a task that you would normally do anyway.  In the shower, alternate between hot and cold water.  As hot and as cold as you can possibly stand.  The expansion and contraction of the blood vessels will also work the lymphatic system.

 

Elevate Your Legs

 

Lay on the floor, you can use a pillow and even a mat if you'd like, in order to make it more comfortable, if your rug is not soft enough.  Place your butt very close to the wall, and lay with your legs fully elevated at or near a 90 degree angle.  Lay like this for five to ten minutes.  This posture provides maximum stimulation of the lymph in the legs.

 

Massage Yourself

 

Be sure to use light pressure, as most of your lymphatic system is in the interstitial area, directly below the skin.  The most important points to do this are in your nodal and especially the gland areas, such as in the neck, behind the ear, the spleen, which is in the area just below the sternum, and the glands in the groin area.

 

 

Detox Baths: Brushing is an Added Bonus for Your Body!

You've read about the health benefits of soaking in a bath with mineral salts, and have finally decided to try it.  You've read the recipes.  You know how much of each salt to use.  And then the fragrance, the essential oil...to top off the bath with a pleasant aroma with the evaporating water.

For a detox bath, most recommend doing it when you are not in a hurry to get anywhere.  About 45 minutes is needed in total for both phases of the experience.  The first half - detoxification, the second, absorption of the mineral salts.

Author Simon Speed.  A prepackaged bath salt solution.

However, the Sphere of Health recommends that you allot just a little bit more time than the usual 45 minutes.  There are two additional steps that can be taken to further detox your body, giving better results than the bath alone.  These two steps are dry and wet skin brushing.

The dry skin brushing is done before you get in the bath.  A tutorial on skin brushing can be found here.  This step will exfoliate the skin, helping to clear the pores as well as possible before the bath, to achieve maximum flush and absorption.  It also stimulates the lymphatic system, facilitating outflow of the toxins.

After your bath is done, stand up slowly, and use the skin brush again in the same manner, before you dry off.  Stimulation of the lymphatic system will get available remnants out that were not released with the soaking.  Do this right away, so that the pores of your skin are still wide open and can release the maximum amount of waste.

To achieve maximum detoxification, dry brush your skin before for about three minutes before the bath, and wet brush three minutes afterwards.

Always remember, do not take a mineral salt detox bath when you are pregnant, or if you have excessively high blood pressure, kidney or heart problems.

Answers to Popular Arguments Against the Paleo and Primal Diets

Ever increasing in popularity, from high profile advocates to a growing number of books, the Paleo and Primal diets have inevitably come under attack by various competitors and detractors.  Unfortunately, many who argue against them misrepresent what they actually consist of.  Some, most likely, do it purposely, while others do it through a genuine lack of understanding of what they are.  Even in the case of the latter group, they are at best irresponsible.  It is a logical necessity that you have an accurate understanding of what you are evaluating, in order to make a fair and competent evaluation.

"But, ancient man did eat grains.  It is known that the Egyptians ate wheat and bread and drank beer."

Yes, indeed the Egyptians did indulge in all of those things.  However, the Egyptian civilization that you refer to is not Paleolithic.  You are not going back far enough.  Both the Paleo and Primal diets refer back to the Paleolithic era.  This time period spans between 2.6 million years ago up until 10,000 B.C.  That is before the ancient Egyptians.  The first humanoid species came into being approximately 2 million years ago.  The Paleolithic era accounts for about 95% of human history and diet.  The Egyptian civilization is old, however it is still part of the Neolithic era.  These diets base themselves on the types of foods humans ate before the birth of agriculture.  Bread is the result of agriculture and modern, Neolithic civilizations.  The same goes for beer.  Those two man made inventions did not exist for 95% of human history.

Eating Paleo and Primal is not good because cavemen only lived to be in their thirties, on average.

While it is true that the average lifespan for the Paleolithic man was approximately 35 years for men, and 30 for women, there are several other variables that were involved.  Before the birth of agriculture and large, complex civilizations, man banded together in much smaller groups.  Before the mass extinction at the end of the last ice age, life in the Paleolithic era was far more dangerous.  Humans, being fewer in number, were more susceptible to both predation, and being killed as a result of attempting to hunt prey.  The Paleolithic era consisted of a plethora of larger, more dangerous animals than modern times.  With fewer people, and with weaponry limited to spears and stones, people could be very badly injured or killed in the course of a hunt.

In addition, medicine was very primitive.  People could die from abscesses borne from acquired injuries or wounds.  Advancements in medicinal health care, as well as understanding of infections and the human body came with time, and larger civilizations with improved methods of communication.  The shorter life expectancy for women was most likely due to the lack of knowledge on how to deal with pregnancy or delivery complications.

Another misconception is that the lifespan gradually increased over time.  According to research by Angel, Lawrence J. (1984) "Health as a crucial factor in the changes from hunting to developed farming in the eastern Mediterranean." In: Cohen, Mark N.; Armelagos, George J. (eds.) (1984) Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture (proceedings of a conference held in 1982). Orlando: Academic Press. (pp. 51-73)], the lifespans of Paleolithic man were roughly equal to Neolithic man, up until the 20th century, when vast improvements of science, and the modern industrial economy took root.  There are a couple noted exceptions in the Neolithic time where the age rose into the forties, during the peaks of the ancient Greek civilization and the Roman empire, where advancements in science and good hygenic practices that were later abandoned by medieval people enabled brief rises in longevity.  This lack of advancement in longevity up until the Industrial Revolution speaks volumes when you consider that Neolithic man had the advantages of a complex society that the Paleolithic man did not.

Another thing to take into account on the chart shown in the link is the fact that Neolithic man also did not grow as tall as the Paleolithic man, and also did not have as much of a pelvic inlet depth index.  When the human diet switched to grains and bread as staples at the beginning of the Neolithic era, people shrunk in height, despite the increased abundance of food from agriculture.

"The USDA has ranked the Paleo and Primal diets one of the lowest of all."

The USDA is heavily influenced by politics.  In Washington D.C. there exists a very large and powerful grain lobby that fuels the U.S. government via subsidies.  Ever since the modern food pyramid created in the 1970's, diseases of affluence have become much more prominent.  The obesity rate is higher than ever.  The several millennia track record simply does not favor eating grains and bread as the base of your diet.

If you are curious, if you have not tried the Paleo or Primal diets, here is a highly recommended nutritional information book.