If you are on social media, you may stumble on some popular accounts that talk about all things lymph. They teach about what the lymphatic system is, why it’s important and how to keep it healthy.
First, why is it so important to keep your lymph system healthy? It’s one of the important parts of your immune system and helps to keep all your body fluids balanced and regulated. All of your tissues, organs, vessels, and glands create a watery substance that moves through the lymphatic system and gets returned to your blood.
Your lymph nodes that are also part of the system help to filter out viruses, bacteria and fungi- all the nasty things that make us feel sick from time to time. Lymph nodes are located all throughout your body and transfer fluids and filter out toxins our body doesn’t need. So, they have quite an important job and when the system isn’t working correctly, we can feel puffy, swollen, tired and a sick.
So, how do we maintain a healthy lymphatic system?
Here are few ideas:
- Drink your water. Don’t allow yourself to get dehydrated.
- Eat a balance of fruits and vegetables that provide a wide range of nutrients.
- Don’t shy away from healthy fats like olive oil, avocado, eggs, chia seeds-many options to choose from.
- Exercise daily with healthy movement. This can be anything from a leisurely walk to a run on the treadmill. Move your body and work your muscles.
- Be mindful of the toxins around you in your environment and try limit the pollutants. This can be hard but start with the obvious things like quit smoking, avoid alcohol, preservatives, herbicides, etc.
- Manage your stress.
- Learn to massage your lymphatic system.
Your lymph nodes are quite close to the surface so you don’t have to dig deep when starting a lymphatic massage habit. Often, just two gentle fingers is all it takes. There are many resources online to help you get started in this daily practice of self care.
When our lymph system is strong and healthy, we will feel it. We will sleep better, have more energy, fight off infections more efficiently. It can also reduce pain and inflammation in our body as well as some of that morning stiffness we can feel as we age.
Like anything we talk about here, make sure you consult with your provider to make sure a little lymphatic massage is right for you and the best ways for you individually. Sometimes, swollen lymph nodes can indicate other problems such as cancer. This is another great reason to see your doctor if you are feeling enlarged lymph nodes, swelling in your ankles or feet.
The human body is amazing! It’s wonderful that we have all these incredible systems in place to help live a long, strong, healthy life.
