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Lymphing Toward Health

by Dr. David Williams

Published 03/05/09

Keeping the Stream Clear

To keep your lymph system moving, you need to focus on two areas. First, you need to reduce the amount of toxins entering your system. Second, you need to improve lymph flow and increase the drainage capacity of your lymph system.

It should go without saying that to minimize the toxins that enter your body, your water and food supply should be as fresh, natural, and free of pesticides, herbicides, and heavy metals as possible. Good bowel habits are essential. The regular use of various supplements such as probiotics can help reduce oxidation and free radical damage from the toxins that do get in. 

Your skin also plays an important role as a barrier to toxins entering your lymphatic system. Approximately 70 percent of the initial lymph vessels are in or just under your skin. Obviously cuts, scrapes, and abrasions increase the ability of various pathogens to pass through the skin barrier and enter your system, but the problem can also occur with excessive washing-particularly with strong detergents, soaps, or the use of acetone or alcohol. These and other cleaners strip the protective surface fats from the skin and leave it vulnerable to penetration. They also destroy any beneficial protective bacteria that reside on the skin surface.

For these reasons, I don't recommend using antibacterial soaps, and I suggest you use gloves if you have repeated contact with soaps and detergents.

While the concept might be a little foreign to most males, the regular use of emollients (skin creams) can significantly lighten the load on your immune system.

Skin cream or natural oils used immediately after bathing or showering help lock in moisture and smooth the skin surface-which, in turn, allows minor cracks and fissures to close and improves the skin barrier. Lanolin has long been used as a base for skin creams; it holds twice its own weight in water and forms an effective oil-in-water emulsion within the skin. It penetrates deeply and reduces subsequent moisture loss by up to 30 percent. Its deep penetration also makes one application effective for up to eight hours-in contrast to other emollients that typically last only two to three hours.

Unfortunately, lanolin is one of the very few substances that cause allergic problems for me. (A newer ultra-pure medical grade of lanolin is supposed to be better, but I haven't had the opportunity to try it yet.) If you're in a similar situation, other substances provide similar benefits. Burt's Bees makes several good creams and oils using almond oil, apricot kernel oil, et cetera. I've also used coconut and avocado oil-based creams, and I've found them helpful. Try several and find one that works for you, and then use it on a regular basis. You'll find a good variety at nearly any health food store.

It's also important to feed the skin barrier from the "inside out"-which is where the omega-3 oils like those from fish and flax can be helpful as a supplement or in your foods (along with other oils such as olive, macadamia, hemp, and coconut).

Exercise Your Right to Good Flow

It probably goes without saying, but exercise can also improve lymphatic flow. The key is the type of exercise. Jogging increases lymph flow, but the constant impact from your feet pounding on the ground negates most of the benefits. Aerobic exercises may not get you breathing deeply enough to maximize lymph flow. Weight-lifting and strength-building exercises improve lymph flow through muscle contractions and the pulsing of arteries. 

The best exercises, however, are rhythmic in nature. For example, one report showed how orchestra conductors routinely lived healthy lives well into their 80s or even 90s. The constant movement of their elevated arms is not only an excellent exercise for the heart muscle, it also requires them to breathe deeper-which, no doubt, greatly accelerates lymphatic flow around the heart. For anyone who is restricted to bed or who has difficulty exercising, I would strongly suggest "conducting" music as a way to help regain your health and stamina. 

Walking, dancing, "step" exercises, and using a device called a rebounder are other good ways to increase lymphatic drainage. The rhythm of these particular exercises facilitates the pumping action of lymph flow. Walking for a mile or two, dancing (practically any form with the exception of break dancing), and stair stepping (or developing a regular routine with a single step) are highly recommended and don't require any special equipment or gym membership.

Using a rebounder is quite simple and can be done by most anyone. The exercise doesn't require jumping the way a trampoline does. In fact, your feet never leave the mat. You simply stand flat-footed on the bouncing surface and bounce gently. 

Start by bouncing for three to four minutes several times a day. You can gradually increase the time and number of sessions as you progress. You can also vary the routine simply by rocking back and forth from your toes to your heels during the bouncing motion. An even more advanced technique involves doing jumping jacks without your feet leaving the mat. The combination of your contracting calf muscles and the rapid changes of your body against gravity will increase lymphatic flow several-fold. The positive effects will often appear quickly and can be quite dramatic. 

A rebounder can be found for about $30 at most sporting goods stores. (Don't waste your money on those costing hundreds of dollars that claim to be "electronically tuned" or whatever.) For a little more money, you can find ones that are a little sturdier or that come with supporting bars to help stabilize you until you get used to the exercise.

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