Healthy Lymph is Key to Resiliant GI Immunity

Since your immune cells travel through your blood and lymph, keeping those systems open will support your ability to respond to and clean up GI infections and toxins. You can think of the blood and lymph as the roads your immune cells travel going to and from skirmishes with foreign invaders in the gut.

The lymph acts as a second circulatory system, filled with plasma, the fluid part of the blood, it bathes tissues in nutrients and cleans up waste, then returns to the bloodstream to be filtered, nutrified and returned in an endless circle. Problems arise when the lymph is blocked by unresolved infections, toxins, or allergens. The Eat Right for Your Type blood type diet minimizes food allergens that would become lectins, clumping cells and thus slowing lymph and blood flow.

A childhood picnic with spoiled mayonnaise can linger in our GI lymph into adulthood, causing acid reflux and chronic indigestion. I have encountered many such individuals with chronic complaints that never responded to symptomatic treatment. Even though no two individuals are the same, I have discovered a GI lymph clearing protocol to give the GI immune system an opportunity to clear out those bad memories and react with a fresh response to new infections. When the mucosal lymph is clear of stagnation, we can respond with a robust assault on whatever is “going around”. We can respond better to new assaults once our old immune challenges have been resolved.

You can begin clearing your blood and lymph, on your own by taking herbs (teas or tinctures) or homeopathics known as “blood and lymph cleansers”. Here is a list of some of your options: burdock root, dandelion root, red clover flowers, calendula flowers, yellow dock root, and nettle leaf. There are three herbal blends I often recommend as blood/lymph cleansers: HERB PHARM Herbal Detox or GAIA HERBS Red Clover Supreme or Echinacea Red Root Supreme. The most commonly helpful blood/lymph homeopathics are: echinacea angustifolia 30C, calendula off. 30C, or sulfur 30C.

If you would like to hear more about my Resilient Immunity protocol, I will be teaching a workshop on April 17, 2018 at 6:30 pm at the River Valley Coop in Northampton. Contact the coop to enroll for free.

If you were wondering whether you needed to address clearing blood/lymph, here is a brief LYMPH QUIZ to answer your question.

HOW TO TELL WHETHER YOUR LYMPH IS CONGESTED

Do you feel run down or sluggish?

Do you easily gain weight and have difficulty losing weight?

Do you suffer from eczema, hives, rosacea, or red and itchy skin?

Do you suffer from autoimmune disease?

Do you have poor circulation?

Do you feel sore and achy after exercise (lactic acid build-up)?

Do you have cellulite?

Do you hold fluid (edema)?

Do you suffer from constipation or irritable bowel?

Do you have strong body odor or excessive sweating?

Do you have tender breasts or breast lumps?

Do you have swollen lymph nodes?

Do you suffer from repeating colds or infections?

[Adapted from: www.aetiology.co.nz/therapy]

IF YOU ANSWERED “YES” TO ANY OF THESE QUESTIONS, YOUR LYMPH IS CONGESTED

I recommend massage techniques for draining lymph called Manual Lymph Drainage. The Vodder manual lymph drainage technique employs small circular motions on the skin. For more information about Vodder manual lymph drainage type into your search engine: “Vodder manual lymph drainage massage”.

Lymph enhancement therapy L.E.T. uses glass wands emitting non-thermal, low-frequency electrostatic energy. For more info about lymph enhancement therapy type into your search engine: “lymph enhancement therapy”.

The best home technique for clearing GI lymph is a castor oil pack. Edgar Cayce, the well-known intuitive healer of the last century, recommended castor oil packs for healing any stagnation. You saturate a piece of wool flannel with hexane-free castor oil and lay the saturated cloth onto the abdomen. Cover the oil soaked cloth with warmth, either a hot water bottle or heating pad and then sit still with the pack for 20 minutes. Repeat once per week. More frequent applications are counter-productive since they may release waste faster than your body will be able to clear. Dry brushing with a sisal brush is another good habit for lymph care. You will find further info online about “dry brushing” and “castor oil packs”.

For 28 years Hart Brent has taught and consulted on empowering self-healthcare as a clinical herbalist and homeopath. Hart opened her practice in Ashfield MA with live blood cell analysis but has been farming and seeing clients in VT for the last 23 years. In her HealthCalls practice she illuminates both the physical and metaphysical causes of illness. She is described as “the one you consult when no one else can figure out your health problem.” Her office is at the Nonotuck Mill, 296 Nonotuck Street, Suite B12, Florence, MA 01062. www.healthcallsus.net. hart@vtlink.net