Love Your Lymph

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Wild indigo cleans the lymph system and reduces swelling in the lymph glands. Steven Foster

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Want vibrant health? Many practitioners recommend cleansing, an age-old practice used in holistic medicine. When you mention cleansing to most people, they typically think of eliminating toxins from the liver and intestines, which is indeed a valuable health practice. But there is an equally important, and much-overlooked, system in the body that keeps us feeling great — the lymphatic system. Whether you’re suffering from aches and pains, swelling, inflammation, fatty deposits or bloating, cleansing the lymphatic system once or twice a year often can be the difference between great health and poor health.

The lymphatic system (or lymph system, as it is commonly called) is a complex network of fluid-filled nodes, vessels, ducts and glands — including the spleen, thymus and tonsils — that bathe our cells and carry our body’s “sewage” away from the tissues and neutralize it. These elements of the lymph system work together to carry cellular waste to the bloodstream. The lymph system handles toxins that enter the body through external sources, such as foods or air pollution, but also handles internally produced toxins (endotoxins) that are the result of normal metabolic processes in the body.

Learn About Lymph

A study by Elisabeth Dancey, M.D., author of The Cellulite Solution (St. Martin’s Press, 1997), found that women with cellulite showed lymphatic system deficiencies. Another study found that 80 percent of overweight women have sluggish lymphatic systems and that getting this system flowing smoothly is the key to easy weight loss and improved feelings of well-being.

If the lymph system is inefficient, you may see fatty deposits or cellulite or experience aches and pains. Conversely, if you improve the cleansing ability of the lymph system, it will be able to “sweep” away the toxins that are linked to pain, cellulite, fatty deposits and some autoimmune disorders.

A healthy lymphatic system also helps purify the blood through the largest mass of lymph tissue in the body, the spleen. The spleen fights infection and destroys worn-out red blood cells in the body. By cleansing your lymphatic system, your spleen will be better able to handle the retired red blood cells.

Eat Well for a Clean Lymph System

Foods can either help or hinder the flow of lymph in the body. To cleanse the lymphatic system, avoid “chemical foods” that contain artificial preservatives, flavors, colors and stabilizers — most prepared, packaged and fast foods. The further away from the natural, whole fruit, vegetable, grain or bean that a food has moved, the more likely it is to clog your lymphatic system.

Avoid foods that are difficult to digest, including fatty foods, excessive animal protein, simple sugars and simple carbohydrates. Sweet foods and the “whites,” which include white rice, white bread, white pasta and any white-flour products, require enormous amounts of energy to handle the resulting rapid blood-sugar fluctuations. This energy is better served to cleanse your lymph system.

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