The Power of Our Hormones and How To Balance Them

To say that hormones have an incredibly powerful effect on our perception and therefore the choices we make is an understatement. Hormones are actually a part of how we see the world. We use hormones not just to sleep, to procreate, or to respond to danger, but for almost every function of the body.

Our body is designed to be ready for anything. Different circumstances require a different combination of chemicals. Fear needs adrenaline, of course. When we meet someone we like, there is a different set of hormones secreted than when we meet someone we dislike.

A poorly working, imbalanced hormonal system makes it much harder to get through life. How can it be easy when you’re receiving inaccurate messages of how the world is interacting around you. Pretty much everyone is familiar with how PMS can change a woman’s view on life. Relationships, jobs, and life in general just don’t seem to work right when our hormones are disrupted.

Related: Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

What Are Hormones?

Hormones are liquid chemical messengers that regulate many activities of the body. They signal biological processes from metabolism, growth, and maturation to sexuality and reproduction (and everything in between).

The endocrine system secretes hormones directly into the bloodstream. The primary glands of this system include:

  • Hypothalamus
  • Pineal gland
  • Pituitary gland
  • Thyroid gland
  • Parathyroid glands
  • Adrenal glands
  • Pancreas
  • Ovaries
  • Testes

These organs are not the only organs that secrete endocrine hormones; the digestive system, the kidneys, the liver and bone also excrete endocrine hormones. In addition, hormones are secreted by the exocrine system. Cells in the body use hormones to communicate.

The primary medical problems that we associate with hormones are sexual and reproductive problems (ovaries, testes, adrenals), a slow or overactive metabolism (thyroid gland), poor blood sugar regulation (pancreas), stress related problems (adrenals), and sleep disturbances (pineal gland).

What Is a Hormone Imbalance?

We typically think of a hormone imbalance as PMS, but other hormonal health problems include diabetes, cancer, bipolar disorder, and the other 6,000 endocrine disorders that result from hormones not functioning properly due to overproduction, underproduction or disruption in delivery or utilization.

Hormone Disruptors

Many manmade chemicals are known endocrine disruptors that can affect development, the reproductive system, the immune system, and the neurological system. They are associated with various cancers (breast, prostate, thyroid, etc.), birth defects (including deformed limbs and sexual organs), learning disabilities, ADHD, and cognitive/brain development problems including lowered IQ, and fertility/reproductive problems. The greatest damage is done in utero.

Hormone disrupting chemicals are found in many products we use on a daily basis including cosmetics, body care products (soaps, shampoos, perfumes, deodorants, sunscreens, etc.), detergents and household cleaners, plastic bottles and food containers, pesticides and herbicides, metal food cans, mercury (in food and in amalgam fillings), phthalates (used to coat medications), flame retardants, PCBs (found in many things including paints, adhesives, and caulks, and wood floor finishes), DEHP (in food packaging)–the list goes on and on.

All of the horror stories we hear about chemical exposure and subsequent damage to the body relate back to hormone disturbances and how the chemicals interfere with the body’s ability to regulate its hormones. Too much or too little of any particular hormone is going to have a significant effect on the body. And yet, knowing this, the FDA continues to allow the dairy industry to pollute the milk supply with a growth hormone (rBGH)even though it has been banned in many other countries.

Our modern world is filled with hormone disrupters in the air we breathe (especially indoors), the water we drink, the food we eat, the products we put on our bodies (which are absorbed into the skin), and the products we use on a daily basis.

What Can We Do To Reduce Exposure to Hormone Disruptors?

There are many things we can do to lower our exposure to hormone disrupters: diet, the body care products and cleaning supplies we use, and other choices which affect our environment.

Diet

Choose organic. Organic foods minimize ingestion of pesticides and herbicides and eliminate GMOs, all of which disrupt hormones. Do not eat unfermented soy. Unfermented soy has enzyme inhibitors that severely disrupt estrogen.

Related: Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included

Body Care Products

Again, choose organic. Soap, toothpaste, fragrances, shampoo, hairspray, deodorant, shaving cream, facial masks, acne treatment, sunscreen, topical medications–all can be purchased or made at home as a chemical free alternative to the commercial chemically laden products.

Cleaning Supplies

Organic or chemical free cleaners can easily be found at health food stores, but in reality what do you really need to purchase? You can clean nearly every surface in your home with vinegar or baking soda. Why buy expensive alternatives? Make sure your laundry cleaner and dish soap are chemical free as well.

Household Pollutants

Do not use chemical air fresheners. They have been linked to depression! Set out a bowl of vinegar; it will absorb odors. Or boil some orange peels on the stove. Take the time to find nontoxic paint and other home improvement items that will not poison the air. Carefully choose carpets, cabinets, upholstered furniture and last but not least–carefully choose your mattress! Open your windows and let the fresh air in!

Teeth, Vaccines, Stimulants, Birth Control and Candida

Teeth with mercury fillings, root canals, and cavitations can disrupt hormones. An overabundance of Candida in the gut disrupts hormone production. Birth control wrecks havoc on the hormonal system. Vaccines contain heavy metals and other preservatives that damage hormone production.

Related: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

How To Eliminate / Detox Endocrine Disrupters From the Body and Balance the Hormones

Again, diet is the foundation for all health and is certainly the foundation for eliminating any unwanted chemicals from the body.

Choose an organic, whole food, nutrient-rich diet with as much variety as possible. A full 80% of your diet should consist of fresh, raw, organic produce – more vegetables than fruit. Meat must be organic! No artificial colorings, flavorings, or preservatives. No MSG, trans fats, or GMOs. Avoid processed foods altogether. Eat real food. Real food does not come in a box or a package. As much as possible, avoid foods in plastic wraps. If your food is transported home in plastics, remove it. Invest in glass storage containers (glass jars work just fine!) Do not buy canned foods.

Related: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

Tap water has hormone-disrupting fluoride, pharmaceuticals, and a ton of stuff you don’t want in your body. The cleanest water is distilled. Yes, it is more acidic. Yes, it is devoid of minerals. Even so, given a choice of water available, it only makes since to start with distilled water for the cleanest, safest water possible. Check out What’s the Best Water for Detoxifying and for Drinking? and Inexpensive, Easy Detox – The One Gallon Challenge.

The right foods and great nutrition will continually aid the body in eliminating foreign materials, whether they are parasites, viruses, bacteria, yeast, heavy metals, or chemicals.

Green Lifestyle Market has a host of supplements that help balance the hormones depending on the health issues at hand. Most everyone can use a Candida Detox, and either Shillington’s Male Energy Formula or Shillington’s Female Formula.

Recommended Supplements:

Sources:


Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12  (cyanocobalamin ), along with other B vitamins, helps turn carbohydrates into glucose and to metabolize fats and proteins. B12 also helps to make red blood cells, to synthesize and repair DNA and RNA, and to form nerve tissue and neurotransmitters.

B12 is an essential nutrient that is only found in animal protein (more specifically, from the animal’s bacteria). Celiac disease, Crohn’s disease, pancreatic disease, weight loss surgery, AIDS, ulcers, long-term antibiotic use and age (50+) are all risk factors forB12  deficiency. And most experts say that vegetarians and vegans must supplement B12 in order to avoid deficiency.

Vitamin B12 deficiency

The requirement for vitamin B12 is very low, but it is absolutely essential. A mild vitamin B12 deficiency results in weakness and fatigue. A more serious deficiency causes shortness of breath, nervousness, numbness and tingling in extremities, and problems with balance. A severe deficiency can lead to nerve damage, pernicious anemia, paranoia, confusion, problems with memory, depression, delusions, and brain damage.

According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, the following drugs may suppress absorption of Vitamin B12 or cause you to lose more in your urine: anti-seizure medications, chemotherapy medications, colchicine, medications used to lower cholesterol, medications used to reduce stomach acid, and a diabetes medication. Vitamin B12 can also interfere with Tetracycline and Doxorubicin. (For more information on drug interactions, see the link below.)

One of the biggest problems with diagnosing B12 deficiency is that the serum B12 test that doctors usually perform only identifies a fraction of the people who are deficient. Fortunately, more sensitive and conclusive testing for B12 deficiency is now available.

As always, when taking a B vitamin supplement, it is best to take B12 along with the other B vitamins in a B complex supplement because any long-term use of a single B vitamin will cause an imbalance in the others, and high doses of folic acid (B9 ) can mask a B12 deficiency.

Treatments and prevention with B12

B12 has long been used to treat fatigue and general malaise. There is a possibility that supplementation will improve sperm count. B9 (folic acid) and B12 may help prevent breast cancer. B complex (especially B12, B6, and B9) help to lower homocysteine levels. Age-related macular degeneration (a condition that causes blindness in the elderly) may be prevented with B12 and B9.

Foods rich in vitamin B12

Natural food sources high in vitamin B12 include the following: sardines, salmon, tuna, cod, lamb, shrimp, scallops, beef, yogurt, and milk.

Can human bacteria produce B12?

Vegans and vegetarians are at high risk for serious B12 deficiency. Many argue that this is not the case, that with a proper, healthy vegan or vegetarian diet, the bacteria in our digestive system will produce B12. While this is true, it is not absorbed. B12 is absorbed in the ileum, the last section of the small intestine, while our bodies produce B12 in the large intestine. Therefore, it cannot be absorbed.

How do vegan animals get vitamin B12? Many species eat their feces and other animal’s feces. They also eat root vegetables with dirt, which sporadically has small amounts of the vitamin. In the 1950s, vegans with B12 deficiencies volunteered to eat B12 extracted from their own feces. The experiment worked–it eliminated their deficiency. Obviously, there is a better way.

Although B12 is water soluble and is not stored in the fat, it is the one B vitamin that is stored in the body, in the liver. Many vegetarians and vegans continue their diet choice without supplementation for a few years without problems. Scientists speculate that this may be due to B12 reserves. One depleted, deficiency will result.

Some people claim to get enough vitamin B12 from their own gardens, growing their own food outside with good soil and eating some of the organic produce without washing it. This practice places them at high risk of parasitic infection, but this practice can yield positive results if their diets are very clean. Tempeh, miso, sea vegetables, and other plant foods are sometimes reported to contain vitamin B12, but these are not reliable sources. The good news is, B12 supplementation is easy. Lots of foods are fortified with B12, but if you don’t do pre-packaged, processed foods, then you’ll need to supplement. There are plenty of supplements available and some nutritional yeasts are good sources of B12, but it is important that the yeast comes from good sources. We recommend non-active saccharomyces cerevisiae nutritional yeast.

Remember, if you choose vitamin supplementation, B vitamins should be taken together in a B-complex form. Shillington’s Total Nutrition recipe (click here to see) should offer enough B vitamins (and it has plenty of B12) for most people, though many people may benefit from the Total Nutrition and a B complex supplement. Make sure any B vitamins you consume come from a reputable source.

Further Reading:
Recommended Supplements:

Sources: 



Vitamin B6 and What You Should Know About it

Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine, pyridoxa, pyridoxamine) works with other B vitamins to change carbohydrates into glucose, to help form hemoglobin, to create neurotransmitters, maintain normal nerve function, to break down protein, to maintain normal blood sugar levels, and to make antibodies.

B6 is not stored in the body. Therefore, it is important to eat a healthy diet that supplies the daily need for this essential nutrient.

Foods Rich in Vitamin B6

Natural food sources high in vitamin B6 include the following: sweet potatoes, potatoes, spinach, cabbage, turnip greens, garlic, winter squash, bok choy, bell peppers, avocado, green peas, tuna, chicken, turkey, beef, salmon, lentils, lima beans, pinto beans, banana, and sunflower seeds.

Vitamin B6 Deficiency

Deficiency causes depression and cognitive problems, skin inflammation, burning feet, sore tongue, anemia, and chronic inflammation of the body. Severe deficiency can lead to convulsions. B6 is important for liver detoxification and immune system function. Severe deficiencies are rare, however, mild deficiencies are common.

How Vitamin B6 Is Used Therapeutically

B6 has been proven to be a successful treatment for morning sickness, to lower homocysteine levels, and to treat tardive dyskinesia. The best known use of B6 is to treat PMS, however, double blind studies have not confirmed its efficacy. (But try telling this to any woman who has received immediate relief from raging hormones by taking B6, and any man who knows to give them to her ). Studies have proven its aid in treating children with asthma in reduction of medications, but studies on adults with asthma have not shown the same result.

Evidence is incomplete or contradictory in regards to benefits in treating depression, vertigo, dermatitis, schizophrenia, prevention of kidney stones, HIV, photosensitivity, and diabetes during pregnancy.

In reading the literature it appears that many studies have been conducted with small groups and many of the studies have not been set up properly. It is also suspect that none of the studies have been conducted with B-complex vitamins since B vitamins always work together.

Remember, if supplementing B6, it is best to take B6 along with the other B vitamins in a B complex, because any long-term use of a singular B vitamin will cause an imbalance in the others. B-complex formulas are available with higher B6 that maintains a working balance of these precious vitamins.

Managing PMS with B6

With a healthy diet, good whole food multivitamin/mineral supplementation and balanced fats (these are necessary for proper B vitamin assimilation), and a complex B vitamin that’s heavy on the B6, many people have been able to manage their PMS symptoms down to almost nonexistent. Your gut also needs to be balanced in order to properly assimilate b vitamins, and consider Shillington’s Female Balance Formula.

Recommended Supplements:
Further Reading:
Sources:

 



Four Steps to Feeling Well for Those New to Natural Health

If you’ve made the decision that you are truly ready to change your lifestyle and claim your birthright of vibrant health, these are the steps to achieve your goal:

Eat Right

If you drill down health to its most critical and essential element, diet plays the most important role. We’ve all heard the old adage, “You are what you eat.” Once you understand the critical role diet plays in health, you will understand the absolute truth of this statement. Your diet provides every single building block your body uses to create cells, to repair tissue, to move, to breathe, to exist.

Common sense tells us, the better your diet, the better your health. But what is the best diet? Hopefully we all know the traditional American diet ranks at the bottom of the list. But which of the many alternative diets hold the top position? Vegan? Vegetarian? Paleo? There are many to choose from. But I suggest, you don’t choose.

We are all individuals with particular likes and dislikes. Unfortunately, we are habitual creatures who seem hell bent on getting stuck in the same patterns and the same ruts. But this is a time of change, so… Take the first step–clean out your cupboards and pantry. Toss out all of your processed foods. Get rid of anything with artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives. No MSG. No trans fats. No high fructose corn syrup. No foods that could be GMO, and that includes refined sugar. Toss it ALL out.

Next, you shop. A healthy diet consists of a wide variety of whole, unadulterated, unprocessed, organic foods. Meat and eggs should be free range AND organic. If you choose dairy (know that goat milk and cheese may be a better choice) be absolutely sure you choose organic. Milk is actually good for you if it is not pasteurized, but good luck finding it. And as far as meat goes, remember if you choose to eat meat, you are eating off of the top of the food chain. If that animal was fed GMO grains, you don’t want to eat it.

Vegetables should be the basis of your diet. A full 80% of your diet should consist of raw, organic, whole vegetables and fruits, more vegetables than fruit.

Grains should be whole. Why lose most of the nutrients? Remember, this new lifestyle of yours is all about nutrient dense foods.

Avoid the trap of becoming a vegan, vegetarian, or other “good” diet follower who has simply found a new way to be a junk food junkie. Processed food is processed food. Choose a great homemade smoothie instead of “healthy” cookies.

Get To Know Your Local Farmer’s Markets! 

A good farmer’s market (not a boutique gathering where they sell jellies and such) will carry the freshest food at the best prices.  Find one that sells organic meat as well as organic fruits and vegetables. Even if you have to drive across town or out into the countryside, the trip is worth it.

Detox

Good stuff in, bad stuff out. Your body has been accumulating parasites, yeast, heavy metals, and a full array of chemicals your whole life. It’s time to cleanse your body and help it to flush out all of these unwanted substances while cleansing your colon to aid in both digestion and elimination. All of those wonderful foods that you will be putting in your body need a fully functioning digestive system to extract the nutrients that will provide your body with the building blocks it needs to repair and grow tissue, to create neurotransmitters, to create hormones, to maintain and build your immune system, and more.

Detox twice a year for the greatest benefit. And always kill excess candida and balance the gut when you do.

Check Out These Detox Articles:

Exercise

Just move. Your lymphatic system needs you to move in order for your lymph to circulate through your body. It has no pump, no other means than the movement of your muscles to circulate your lymph fluid. Try yoga, Tai Chi, walking, rebounding, anything that gets you moving. It’s okay to start off slow and gentle. You don’t need to push it. Once you achieve vibrant health you’ll want to move. It’s one of the signs that you are on the right path.

Supplements

Ideally, your nutrition will come from your food. But let’s be honest, we live in an imperfect world with farming soil stripped of its minerals. Even if the soil was rich, food loses its vitamins and minerals as it makes the journey from farm to table. So unless you are growing your own food in great soil, we suggest you consider supplementation. You may want to consider a nutritional supplement to add to your daily smoothie as well as vitamins, minerals, and supplements to aid in your detox. Source them well. You want only the best. We recommend Shillington’s Total Nutrition Formula as a nutritional supplement to add to your smoothies. For your detox, you need a supplement to kill the candida, a supplement to rebuild the flora, one to MicroDefense – Pure Encapsulations, and one to clean the intestines.

Recommended Supplements:
Further Reading:
Sources:


Johanna Budwig Cured Cancer Naturally and Here’s How

Cancer. The very word causes a recoil, a visceral awareness that our statistical probability of “catching” this “disease” is astronomically high. Current statistics tell us 1 out of 2 men and 1 out of 3 women will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in their lifetime. More than 1 million Americans are diagnosed each year, and this number does not include all forms of cancer.

We run for the cure, we walk for the cure, we donate more than a billion dollars a year to the American Cancer Society in search for a cure, but still no cure is found. There’s no shot, no magic pill, no elixir that will wipe out cancer. Well, actually, there might be one. We do keep hearing about miracle cures from cannabis oil, but it isn’t available to the one million American citizens who will be diagnosed with cancer this year. Big Pharma has not yet figured out how they can package and sell it without decimating their lucrative cancer treatment income. So the cancer industry chugs along, with annual spending on medical care for cancer treatment totaling around 125 billion a year. Big business. Very big business. Through this conventional treatment, how many will die horrible, painful deaths, their bodies as ravaged by the “treatment” as by the disease? And why? Because there is no cure for cancer? Actually there is.

Johanna Budwig

“I have the answer to cancer, but American doctors won’t listen. They come here and observe my methods and are impressed. Then they want to make a special deal so they can take it home and make a lot of money. I won’t do it, so I’m blackballed in every country.” These are the words of Johanna Budwig. No, she was not a charlatan or a quack. Johanna Budwig was a German scientist, a six time nominee for the Nobel Prize, who held two doctorates, one in medicine and one in pharmaceutical chemistry. She also studied biochemistry, physics, and psychology. Johanna Budwig found the cure for cancer in 1951.

Budwig had been appointed by her government to lead research into the process of hardening oils into solids–in other words, how to make margarine. Through this work, she was the first to discover that trans fatty acids (hydrogenated oils) are detrimental to health. At the same time, she discovered how to cure cancer, along with other diseases including diabetes, liver dysfunctions, cardiovascular problems, and arthritis.

Budwig discovered that cancer cells are simply cells that did not have the nutrients needed at a molecular level (with the right photons and neutrons) to properly mature. She also discovered that unlike the red blood cells of healthy people, the red blood cells of cancer patients did not contain a fatty layer. This discovery led to her cure, a cure with a 90% success rate. (It is good to note that many of her cancer patients were stage 4, sent to her after failed surgery and radiation. One can’t help but wonder if she would have achieved a 100% success rate with early state cancer or even late state cancer without earlier conventional treatment. )

She cured cancer through diet and nutrition. Her diet is a nutritionally dense , additive free, diet without animal products with the exception of quark (a cheese) or cottage cheese that is mixed with flaxseed oil. This mixture of oil and protein gives the body the needed nutrition to heal itself on a molecular level. Cancer cells are sloughed off or absorbed and the body is restored to health within three months.

Budwig wrote and published six books and many articles. She would have contributed more, had she not spent many exhaustive years in litigation with margarine companies and was restricted through the courts, at times, from publishing.

Further Reading:
Recommended Supplements:
Sources:
  • Cancer Facts
  • Halme, Erkki, The Role of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Overcoming Cancer and Immunological Factors in General, Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients. Oct 90, Issue 87, p 710-711.
  • Cartmell, John W., Cancer: A Patient’s Perspective, Frontier Perspectives, Fall 97, Vol.6, Issue 2, p66, 4p.
  • Lake, Rhody, Famous Cancer Cures, Alive: Canada’s Natural Health & Wellness Magazine. Apr1998, Issue 186, p72-74. 3p.
  •  Roehm, Dan C., The Biologic Electron, Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients, July 90, Issue 84, p 480, 3p.
  •  Dr. Johanna Budwig, a Remarkable Scientist, Alive: Canada’s Natural Health & Wellness Magazine. May2004, Issue 259, p170-170. 1p. , Database: Alt HealthWatch

 

 



What We Should Know About Our Lymphatic System

When you hear the term “circulatory system”, what comes to mind? Most of us think of the vascular system, the amazing array of arteries, veins, and capillaries through which each of our hearts pump 1,900 gallons of blood each day, in a circular loop. Few of us think of the other circulatory system–though it is twice as large as the vascular system. This second circulatory system, the lymphatic system, is just as vital to our health as the vascular system. When the lymphatic system is not working properly, our bodies cannot remove toxins; fight viral, fungal, and bacterial disease; or regulate the amount of fluid in our tissues.

Our two circulatory systems work together. Dr. John Douillard, DC, describes the lymphatic system in these terms: “It is like the drains in your house and the blood is like the faucets,” an apt description. The lymphatic system is also the filtration system and the factory that matures and differentiates lymphocytes (white blood cells, which fight disease).

Lymphatic vessels are found in all tissues of the body except for the central nervous system, the bone marrow, and tissues without blood vessels such as cartilage. It is a complex system that includes organs, nodes, and vessels that perform three primary functions:

  • Fluid balance
  • Fat Absorption
  • Immunological Defense

Fluid Balance

When the heart pumps blood, the blood travels through arteries to arterioles (arterial capillaries), which connect to venules (capillaries of the veins). The blood then begins its journey back to the heart. But the vascular system is not a closed system. When the blood reaches the capillaries, fluid is released from the thin-walled capillaries and flows into all of the tissues in the body. This fluid, called interstitial fluid, bathes the tissues with nutrients and gases as it washes over the cells.

The cells absorb nutrients and oxygen and release their waste products back into the interstitial fluid. Ninety percent of the interstitial fluid is reabsorbed by the venous capillaries, to recombine with the blood and flow back to the heart. The other 10% of the interstitial fluid (2-3 liters a day), along with proteins and other particles too large to pass through the capillary walls, is taken up by the lymphatic system. This fluid, now called lymph, flows through the lymphatic system and is filtered through the lymph nodes before being returned, ultimately, to the bloodstream.

Removal of the cells’ waste is critical. If the waste is not removed, cells quickly die. If the lymphatic system is not working properly, interstitial fluid builds up in the tissues, proteins are not properly returned to the bloodstream, large particles such as bacteria are not removed, all of the waste is not removed, and edema (swelling of the tissues—especially swelling in the feet and hands) results.

Fat Absorption

The villi in the small intestines are tiny projections that facilitate absorption of nutrients from our food. Each villus contains capillaries from the venous system and the lymphatic system. While the nutrients are passed into the bloodstream, fats and fatty acids are absorbed by specialized lymphatic vessels. The lymphatic system carries the fats and fatty acids through its system until emptying them, along with lymphatic fluid, directly into the blood.

Immunological Defense

The lymph nodes, the spleen, and the thymus gland work together to defend the body from foreign invaders and pathogens.

Lymph nodes are encapsulated tissue situated in many parts of the body. The nodes have a blood supply, entering through an artery and exiting through a vein. The node receives blood plasma and checks it for foreign invaders. If needed, the node creates lymphocytes which go to the bloodstream to fight the foreign cells. The nodes also filter and purify the lymph fluid so that the fluid is clean when it is returned to the bloodstream.

Tonsils, adenoids, and Peyer’s patches are collections of lymph nodes strategically placed to fight foreign invaders. Tonsils fight disease at the throat, adenoids protect the body from inhaled pathogens, while Peyer’s patches protect the interior of the small intestines.

The spleen also contains lymph nodules. Although the spleen is a part of the lymphatic system, it filters blood, not lymph. But as the blood is filtered through the spleen, pathogens trigger a response from the lymph nodules. The spleen filters out and removes the dead, red blood cells from the blood along with foreign invaders.

Thymus

Lymphocytes, which originate in the bone marrow, reach maturity and differentiation in the thymus gland. Many remain in the thymus gland, but others move throughout the lymphatic system, the peripheral tissues, and the blood. These are the cells that control immune reactions, and combat viruses and cancer cells.

Appendix

The appendix is also comprised of lymphatic tissue. Though it does not appear to have a lymphatic function; we do finally understand its purpose. The appendix stores bacteria for the gut. If the gut bacteria is compromised, the appendix releases bacteria to begin the process of repopulation.

Circulation of Lymph

The lymphatic vessels have valves (much like vascular veins) to keep the fluid moving in the right direction and the vessels themselves help move fluid forward. The lymphatic system doesn’t have a big pump like a heart to force fluid through the vessels. Instead, our bodies rely on our muscles to move the fluid. Our diaphragms and rib cage as well as the blood pumping through our bodies, do assist in this movement. But body movement and exercise is the primary method of moving lymph. A sedentary lifestyle decreases lymph flow by 94%.

Why Is It Important To Move Our Lymph?

Lymph contains lymphocytes, (white blood cells: T-cells, B-cells, and natural killer cells) that seek out and kill pathogens. As the fluid is filtered through the nodes, a concentration of lymphocytes clean up the fluid before it is returned to the blood.

If the fluid is backed up and not flowing properly, it becomes viscous. The flowing fluid can thicken until it becomes the consistency of cottage cheese. Fluids and waste is not properly drained from the cells, bacteria and other foreign invaders are not properly filtered and destroyed, and disease, including cancer, may result.

How to Move Lymph Through the Body and Assist the Lymphatic System

The major way to move lymph through the body is through movement of any kind. Walking, bending, stretching–any and all movement will assist with lymphatic movement. To really get it moving, bounce. Jump up and down, jump rope, or for the best result, bounce on a rebounder for 15-20 minutes a day. (See the link below.)

You will also benefit from massage, including self massage. (See the link below.) This will assist with flow and move any viscous fluid through the system. Find a massage therapist who is certified in lymphatic massage.

Be sure to hydrate well with clean (preferably spring) water.

Beets, berries, and cherries all stimulate the lymphatic system. A healthy diet consisting of 80% raw vegetables and fruits supports healthy lymphatic function as well as general health.

One of Ayurveda medicine’s most popular blood purifiers, Manjistha, is known to be an excellent lymphatic tonic. Astragalus, echinacea, goldenseal, pokeroot, or wild indigo root tea are recommended. Detoxifying the blood, hot and cold hydrotherapy, candida cleansing, and rebounding are important components to detoxifying the lymph.

So get off the couch, jump up and down, and eat right to detox your lymphatic system. It’s the least you can do for a system that works so hard to protect you.

Recommended Supplements:
Further Reading:

Sources:



Candida Overgrowth Symptoms

Chances are, you have Candida overgrowth. We all have Candida, just like we all have bacteria. And like the microbes in our gut and the rest of our body, it’s all about balance. The problem is that in this day and age, our modern diet feeds Candida.

Candida is a fungus, a kind of yeast. Candida is as opportunistic as they come.

I know very few people without Candida overgrowth. I know lots of health nuts who are aware of it. I know lots of people who take probiotics, who eat the alternative, healthier sugars when they do eat sweet foods. The thing is; I know very few people who don’t eat too many processed, refined foods. If it’s not whole, completely unrefined food, it’s likely to feed fungus. Even fresh, slow pressed vegetable and fruit juice will lead most people to an overabundance of the fungus.

Check out our latest: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

In nature, way back in the day, we didn’t have fruit juice. We didn’t have refined foods. Fruit was seasonal and much harder to get than vegetables. We ate pounds and pounds of vegetables. We pulled up leaves and roots from the ground all day. We got meat when we could, but there were times when that was hard to come by. Our brains need a lot of fuel, and before agriculture, it was much harder to meet our needs. Today we tend to think of balance as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and meat for those who eat meat. But most people are shocked to know that a true Paleo diet would consist of more vegetables than most people would have time to eat in a day.

Here is an incomplete list of symptoms and other clues that are likely to be caused by too much yeast in your body. And while most (not all) of these can be signs of something else being out of balance, more often than not, if you regularly have even one of the symptoms, you’ve got too much Candida in your inner ecosystem.

Most Skin problems are a Sign of Candida Overgrowth

Skin problems such as acne, Keratosis pilaris, dry skin, hives, rashes, dandruff, and eczema are a sign of too much fungus in the body. You know all those white bumps on the back of your arms? You’ve got Candida overgrowth. I’m not saying that whiteheads are fungus. It’s much more complicated that that. Sometimes aforementioned skin problems such as rashes are a direct result of fungal abundance, but other times, the issues are an indirect result of the colon microbes being out of balance. For instance, acne is often caused by hormonal issues. Hormonal issues are often caused by, exacerbated by, or at the very least virtually always are accompanied by, out of control Candida.

Athlete’s foot and even an itchy arch are also a sure sign of too much Candida.

Diaper rash is almost always candida.

Itchy crotch, itchy vagina, yeast infections, and a funky discharge from the vagina and anus are sure signs of too much Candida

If you need a shower every day in order not to itch, you’ve got too much yeast in your body. If you itch or feel a stinging sensation around your anus or your perineum when you wipe after bowel movements, that’s another sure sign. If it smells funky down there, while this may be perfectly normal, it’s also a sign of Candida overgrowth.

Body Odor

Yes, bacteria are one of the primary causes of body odor. But what many people don’t know is that “bad bacteria” (what we call bacteria that doesn’t benefit us) coincides with too much fungus in the body. If you need antiperspirant or deodorant and daily showers, again this is totally normal, but it’s a sign of too much fungus.

You may be thinking, “This writer must be some kind of non-showering hippie or something!” Yeah, well, let’s just say I don’t smell bad at all if I miss a shower. And while traveling the country I have gone weeks without one and smelled just fine. I still love a good shower as much as the next person. But I just don’t feel like I need them unless I am dirty and grimy.

Trouble with Digestion, Gas, Bloating

Digestion problems, gas, and bloating can be signs of other issues such as kidney problems, allergies, and more. But typically, whenever someone is unhealthy in one area, they also have Candida issues.  Too much Candida in the gut means not enough beneficial bacteria to digest food properly, and this can cause fermentation. Too much Candida in the whole body and even the stomach and kidneys are affected. While we’re on the subject of gas, slow kidney function causes flatulence, and as mentioned, this can be caused by too much fungus.

Allergies and Allergic Reactions

Many times when people think they are having an allergic reaction due to a rash with hives, this is actually a spike in fungus that is out of control. Antibiotics cause these reactions in people regularly because they cull all of the beneficial bacteria that balance our body’s ecosystem.

Seasonal allergies and food allergies tend to vanish when Candida is brought completely under control. It sounds radical, I know, but it’s true.

Other signs of too much Candida include thrush or a white tongue, itchy ear canals, and sugar cravings. Candida overgrowth also leads to a host of other health issues from insomnia to severe mood swings. While Candida is not the sole cause of most health issues, it accompanies almost every health issue.

For more information on how to get your body’s inner ecosystem balanced,

Further Reading:

Supplements we Recommend: