Is Your Immune System Ready?

While we all make our best efforts to remain healthy, we know that viruses will continue to be with us even after our cities and towns begin to “open up.” Therefore, many people are using this opportunity to focus on building their immune systems to be in a better position to withstand viral assaults as well as other microbial assaults.

Our next step in this series about building the immune system (as we continue to follow the body’s natural drainage flow system), is to address the lymphatic system.

The lymphatic system is an immense system of vessels, nodes, tonsils, adenoids, the spleen, the thymus and bone marrow that is a critical part of your body’s defense system. We have likely all had a sore throat and felt the accompanying swollen lymph nodes in the neck. The nodes become swollen because that is where the body is fighting the infection and draining out the toxins produced in the process.

One of the challenges of this important system is that, unlike the circulatory system, the lymph fluid does NOT have an organ to pump the fluid around. Bodily movement is how the lymphatic system pumps the fluid, and if the fluid does not move, the immune system cannot get its important immune cells to where the infection might be and it can also not remove the waste which can lead to toxicity and inflammation in the body.

Some possible symptoms of poor lymphatic health are frequent infections, edema (typically in arms and legs), blisters or cysts, skin discoloration and congestion. If you have had your tonsils, adenoids, spleen or any lymph nodes removed, you should pay extra attention to supporting your lymphatic system. To help support a healthy lymphatic system, try some of these tips:

1. Move frequently. When sitting for more than 20 minutes at a time during the day, lymphatic fluids can stagnate. There are great apps to remind you to stand up and move. 

2. Incorporate exercise that involves some form of bouncing such as a rebounder/mini-trampoline. Even 5 minutes a day can be helpful to move lymph fluid around. 

3. Consider lymphatic massage, where a trained therapist can manually drain the lymphatic system. Even a basic massage can be helpful. 

4. Use an Infrared Sauna to help the body detoxify, support circulation, and improve immune health. (Heights of Health can provide Infrared Sauna appointments.) 

5. Drink plenty of pure water, as the lymphatic fluid is 95% water and most of us are chronically dehydrated. Again, there are great apps available to track your fluid consumption. 

We hope that you have been able to implement some of the simple tips we have been providing over the last 4 months to help optimize your immune health. We have focused, in previous articles, upon the importance of digestive, intestinal and liver health in their role in the strengthening of the immune system. If you missed any of those important tips, please visit our website at www.heightsofhealth.com for those articles and other great resources.

At Heights of Health, we continue to offer virtual and in-clinic appointments for our services - including holistic nutritional consultations, Infrared Saunas, Detox Footbaths - and we are happy to ship supplements as needed. We are here to support you in taking  charge of your health from the inside out.