How to Detox the Lymphatic System
If you are constantly sick or tired, your lymphatic system may have stopped working properly.
If you are constantly sick or tired, your lymphatic system may have stopped working properly. Your lymphatic system, comprised of your lymph nodes, spleen, thymus and vessels that carry fluids that protect your body from disease, can become sluggish when you do not exercise, eat the wrong types of foods or endure a prolonged, serious illness. However, you can learn to detox your lymphatic system by adhering to a few simple, but highly beneficial, health-enhancing steps that benefit your lymphatic system and your overall health.
Step 1
Book a lymphatic massage from a licensed massage therapist. The massage therapist will use his thumbs, fingers and hands to massage the lymph nodes around your body, and numerous vessels that lie just underneath your skin that carry lymph, a colorless liquid that carries immune cells to protect you from illness.
Step 2
Avoid processed foods. Processed foods put a strain on your lymphatic system, says DetoxSafely.org. Avoid white bread, candy, processed meats such as luncheon meats and hot dogs, fast foods, canned foods and packaged dinners, cereals and baked goods.
Step 3
Eat natural foods that cleanse your lymphatic system. Some lymphatic cleansing foods are dark green vegetables, ginger, sea kelp, citrus fruits such as lemons and oranges, flax seeds, wheatgrass juice, radishes and garlic.
Step 4
Use herbs to clean out your lymphatic system. Dandelion root, yellow dock root, burdock root, goldenseal, nettles, parsley and myrrh cleanse your lymphatic system, says DetoxSafely.org.
Step 5
Spend time in a steam room or sauna, says natural health writer and activist Jon Barron. Sweating eliminates toxins from your lymphatic system, and the heat from the sauna or steam increases your breathing and your heart rate, two factors that also help to accelerate lymphatic drainage.
Step 6
Do a liver cleanse. Your liver produces most of your lymph fluid, says Barron, and when your liver is congested, your lymph system is also congested. You can find natural liver cleanse products online or at your local health food store.
Step 7
Exercise every day. A sedentary lifestyle causes your lymphatic system to become stagnant. When you exercise, you stimulate your lymphatic system into action and promote a healthy immune system response, says Barron. You can walk briskly, run or use a mini-trampoline to "wake up" your lymphatic system.