Detoxing Your Lymphatic System

Hay House Radio Episode Recap

  • Episode Name: “Detoxing Your Lymphatic System”
  • Live Broadcast: March 28th, 2018 at 12:00 pm Pacific Time
Episode Replays: Tuesdays at 9:00 pm Pacific Time / 12:00 am Eastern Time, Saturdays at 4:00 pm Pacific Time / 7:00 pm Eastern Time, Sundays at 2:00 pm Pacific Time / 5:00 pm Eastern Time

Episode Summary Re-cap

This month, we’re showcasing the power of your lymphatic system for overall health!
Your lymphatic system is a major part of your body’s immune system. It also plays a key role in your moods, memory, and brain health. In this eye-opening show, you’ll learn why the immune system is critical for your overall health and wellbeing and how to detox for lymphatic system, brain, and body health. Joining Heather is renowned molecular biologist with a specialty in immunology, Dr. Judy Mikovits.

Judy MikovitsSpecial Guest: Judy Mikovits, PhD

Judy A. Mikovits, PhD has focused her life as a research scientist on curing cancer to honor her grandfather who died of cancer when she was a teenager. Dr. Mikovits earned her BA from University of Virginia and PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from George Washington University. In her 35-year quest to understand and treat chronic diseases, she has studied immunology, natural products chemistry, epigenetics, virology and drug development.

In just over twenty years she rose from an entry-level lab technician to become director of the lab of Antiviral Drug Mechanisms at the National Cancer Institute before leaving to direct the Cancer Biology program at EpiGenX Pharmaceuticals in Santa Barbara, California where she had met and married David Nolde in 2000.

There in 2006, she became attracted to the plight of patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Autism. In only five years she developed the first neuroimmune institute from a concept to a reality and is primarily responsible for demonstrating the relationship between immune based inflammation and these diseases. She has published over 50 scientific papers and the book, Plague.

Dr. Judy A. Mikovits founded MARC, Inc. with her collaborator Dr. Frank Ruscetti.

Website | Plague: One Scientist’s Intrepid Search for the Truth about Human Retroviruses and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), Autism, and Other Diseases

The Little-Known Lymphatic System and Your Health

Your lymphatic system is a pretty nifty fluid superhighway in your body that plays a major role in immunity and overall wellbeing. According to molecular biologist and biochemist, Dr. Judy Mikovits, you can think of your lymphatic system as all the fluid in your body that’s not blood.

In fact, your lymphatic system is responsible for moving lymph, a protein-rich fluid that contains things your body needs to detox, like bacteria, cancer cells, inflammation, dead cells, and toxins. A network of collectors and pumps within your lymphatic system move the fluid around so that macrophages – little Pac Man-like immune cells – can eat them for lunch, thus rendering them harmless.

In other words, your body was divinely designed with a variety of pathways to get rid of the junk it doesn’t need, so you can feel your best!

Science Only Just Discovered the Brain’s Lymphatic System in 2015

Scientists have had a long-held, dogmatic belief that your brain was “immune privileged.” Dr. Judy shared that if you ready any of the medical textbooks before 2015, you’ll see that scientists believed your lymphatics stopped at your neck and never entered your brain.

“It was believed before 2015 that antigens or foreign molecules couldn’t be introduced into immune-privileged sites (like the brain and eyes) and cause an inflammatory reaction.

This led science to feel pretty comfortable with things like vaccines or GMO foods (genetically modified foods designed to withstand the toxic herbicide, glyphosate and considered a possible carcinogen to humans). Oh, and it’s why scientists never bought the connection between vaccines and neuroimmune reactions, like autism. To learn more, read: Vaccine-Chronic Illness Controversy.

However, in 2015 the studies came out declaring all but “oops” as they revealed that your lymphatic system does travel to your brain and is, therefore, the brain is not protected from things you inject into the body or toxins you ingest in your food. That’s a pretty big oops. But it signifies something Dr. Judy is always saying, “Science is never settled.” Science is always evolving – and should always evolve – because there are always new things to discover. The minute it becomes static and we think we’ve got it all figured out is when we lose.

“We’re still fighting this long-held dogma about the brain being immune privileged in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and political hearings in Washington, DC when it comes to vaccines and environmental injury,” Judy said.

Your Immune System, Lymphatic System and Brain Health

Let’s start with your immune system. Think of your immune system as a military with several branches: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard. Each of these branches must be able to communicate with the others in order to fully protect the country, just as your immune system has many branches designed to protect your health.

In simple terms, your immune system is always scanning your body looking for good guys and bad guys. The way Judy describes this is that your immune system is surveying what is “self” (and therefore safe) and “not self” (and therefore, requires an immune response to protect you).

Too many stressors, like toxins, pathogens, injury, electromagnetic fields (EMFs), poor diet, and stress itself, can interrupt the communication and cause a breakdown in your immunity.

Your lymphatic system is one of the branches of your immune system. Let’s take a look at how this works by examining your brain health.

Surrounding your brain is the blood-brain barrier, which protects it. The other protection surrounding your brain is the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier. Both of these barriers have tight junctions (openings and closings that serve as gateways) that let things in or out based on whether your immune system sees them as self or not self.

“When we see white blood cells in the cerebrospinal fluid, it’s indicative of infection,” Judy says. An invader has gotten in through the tight junctions. When this happens, the microglia (macrophages) in your brain’s lymphatic system says, this is not self and sets off an immune response.

This is fine if it’s only happening here and there, but under constant, chronic stress or if you’re one of a growing epidemic of people with connective tissue challenges, you end up with leaky tight junctions. The one we all know about is leaky gut. This is where the tight junctions in your small intestine are leaky and food enters the bloodstream when it’s not supposed to. The fire alarm is sounded by your immune system, creating inflammation. Too much of this starts to affect your blood-brain barrier and blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier. This is how your gut health affects your brain health.

With all this inflammation (confusion about self/not-self), the main communicator between your gut and brain, the vagus nerve (think of it as the body’s information superhighway) loses focus and can no longer send proper signals between the gut and brain. Many symptoms ensue.

Symptoms of Lymphatic System Problems

You can just imagine the gut and brain symptoms that occur after reading the above, but what happens if you have additional stress from lifestyle, poor diet, lack of sleep, environmental toxins, trauma, and injury? A multitude of symptoms that we are seeing in epidemic proportions today.

When you recognize that at this point, the body’s highways are clogged and the immune system can no longer communicate properly, you’ll understand why these symptoms are so wide-ranging:

  • Swelling (during prolonged standing, flying on an airplane, or generalized swelling that seems to have no known cause, lymphedema)
  • Weight gain (including fat disorders like lipedema or Dercum’s disease)
  • Lipomas (benign fatty tumors)
  • Eye problems (e.g., inability to see at night, problems with veins in eyes, eyesight changes)
  • Retinopathy (this can happen when one is diabetic)
  • Pain (myalgia)
  • Skin problems (eczema, acne, psoriasis, rosacea)
  • Digestive problems and food allergies (70% of your immune system is in your gut)
  • Histamine response – itching, allergy

There are also symptoms you can’t see, which affect the brain, such as:

  • Anxiety disorders
  • Brain fog and memory problems
  • Fatigue (when you can’t clear toxins, the mitochondria can’t produce energy properly)
  • ADHD
  • Having trouble speaking properly or understanding things
  • Brain inflammation (encephalomyelitis) – underpinning of Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, MS, and ALS.

How to Detox Your Lymphatic System

One important concept to recognize is that your immune system needs support to keep moving. That means it needs your help to keep it healthy and moving!

  • Exercise – using a rebounder (mini trampoline) is a gentle and exceptional way to keep your lymphatic system flowing. Walking, yoga, Pilates, and other forms of exercise are also helpful.
  • Sleep – In order to heal, you must sleep. Sleep allows your brain to shut off, so you can go into parasympathetic nervous system mode and heal. Sleep helps your lymphatic system flush out toxins.
  • Deep Breathing – helps move your lymphatics. Breathe to Beat the Blues, by Amy Weintraub, is one of my favorite guided breathing meditations.
  • Medical Cannabis and Hemp CBD Oil – Cannabinoids help reset the communication of your immune system and helps your connective tissue heal, including those important tight junctions. Learn more about medical cannabis and CBD oil.
  • Minerals – Minerals support the enzymatic functions needed for immunity and energy. When your connective tissue is leaky or your lymphatic system is clogged, mineral deficiency is common. Some great options to remineralize your body are: Restore, and my favorites: Anderson’s Sea MD and 40,000 Volts. Anderson’s Sea MD and 40,000 Volts are a wide base of liquid minerals that you add to water. Start with ¼ teaspoon in 8 oz. water once or twice per day. If you’re feeling good, add more, up to 1 – 2 dropperfuls of Anderson’s Sea MD or 1 – 2 teaspoons of 40,000 Volts spread out across all of your glasses of water for the day.
  • Camel MilkCamel milk has excellent properties that align with the human immune system, making it a natural immune supporter. It tastes similar to skim milk and you only need about ¼ cup per day. You can even choose camel milk kefir for a great source of probiotics.
  • Camel Hump Fat – Rich in essential fatty acids and vitamin B12 (mood and digestive support), camel hump fat is a wonderful addition to your diet and also makes an incredible skin remedy. Dr. Judy recommends heating very gently on the stove and mixing in medical cannabis oil or concentrate for skin cancer, eczema, psoriasis, or other skin conditions. THC in cannabis is particularly good for the skin. If medical cannabis is not legal in your area, use hemp CBD oil instead.

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Tune in Next Week

Tune in next week to 21st Century Medicine WomanLauren K Walker, when author and Energy Medicine Yoga expert, Lauren K. Walker joins us to share proven techniques in energy medicine and yoga to support your health, immunity, energy, and ideal weight by supporting your lymphatics!

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As a coach, writer and recovered former executive, I understand the challenges of creating a balanced, healthy lifestyle when over-scheduled. In my journey to radiant health, I created a whole health system of eating, exercise, renewal and recharging -- a roadmap toward health & vitality. I empower clients to create their own whole health systems, in their own unique ways. I have seen amazing results in working with my clients!