lymph system Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Reduce Stress & Promote Detoxification with One Easy Exercise

The AHA! Team — Mon, 18 Aug 2025 21:54:10 +0000

Dena Schmidt via NaturalHealth365 – Breathing is something many of us take for granted. However, most people tend to breathe in a shallow way, contributing to stress and limiting oxygen intake. On the other hand, deep breathing activates the body’s relaxation response, supports circulation, and promotes overall well-being. Why is deep breathing so important? Proper breathing helps oxygenate the body and supports the movement of the lymphatic system, which plays a key role in immune function. While the body primarily eliminates toxins through the liver, kidneys, and digestive system, deep breathing can aid in overall detoxification by improving oxygen exchange and circulation. Reduce stress by activating your body’s detoxification system The lymphatic system neutralizes and transports toxins from the cells and dumps them into the circulatory system. The toxins are then cycled through the liver and kidneys and eventually excreted. However, while the circulatory system is pumped by the heart, the lymph system does not have such a pump. Breathing and body movement are required for it to work effectively. Without sufficient bodily activity and deep breathing, effective detoxification isn’t possible. The lymphatic system becomes sluggish, resulting in fatigue, inflammation, weight gain, and high blood pressure. Fortunately, deep breathing exercises are one simple exercise that can make all the difference to the health of the lymphatic system. Best deep breathing exercises to promote detoxification Eastern cultures and yogic traditions have long been aware of how important deep, mindful breathing is to health and well-being. The breath is central to practices like yoga and tai chi. Deep breathing brings a wealth of benefits to health and well-being. Here are some of the top reasons to remember to breathe deeply: Stimulates organs and lymph flow: The expanding and contracting effect of the diaphragm during deep breathing massages the internal organs and the lymphatic system. Cellular detoxification and oxygenation: Deep breathing naturally stimulates the body to rid itself of toxins, allowing more nourishing oxygen to reach the cells. Relaxation: Deep breathing exercises also trigger the parasympathetic nervous system, called the “relaxation response.” This promotes a calm sense of well-being. Breathing is a natural way to reduce stress and its effects on the body and mind. Fitness and weight loss: Breathing is essential to cardiovascular capacity and maximizing the effects of each workout. By reducing stress, deep breathing also encourages increased fat burning, so the body doesn’t burn glycogen instead of fat. Deep breathing exercises can be performed anywhere, anytime. Strive to cultivate the habit of breathing deeply as much as possible throughout the day, not just during your fitness routine or yoga practice (although it’s extremely beneficial during these times as well). For optimal benefits during deep breathing exercises, exaggerate your breath, lungs’ expansion, and diaphragm movement. Expand your belly and abdominal muscles during each inhale, and empty your lungs completely when you exhale. Even just a few minutes a day of this type of breathing can work wonders for the body, mind, and spirit. Sources for this article include: NIH.gov To read the original article click here.

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Easy Lifestyle Habits for Healthy Immune Function

AHA Publisher — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 07:00:32 +0000

Dr. Don Colbert – Today, tomorrow, and forever, it’s imperative that you take care of your immune system. Believe it or not, you can use lifestyle habits for healthy immune function right where you are. There’s never been a better time to build these healthy habits into your daily life. These healthy habits are science-backed methods to support immune function. Here’s how you can use each one to lift your mood, your faith, and your immune system today. 8 Easy Lifestyle Habits for Your Immune System’s Health 1. LAUGH AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE Let’s start with a joyful habit. Laughter. Have you ever wondered why we laugh? Why did God give us this gift? It is an amazing health-promoting habit. The more you can build laughter into your daily life, the more you’ll reduce cortisol, improve your mood, and decrease depression. These, in turn, will encourage healthy immune function. Interestingly, multiple studies show that the benefits of smiling and laughter are experienced whether its real or fake. So, fake it if you need to, and get in a good belly laugh each day. 2. SLEEP AT LEAST 7 HOURS PER NIGHT Sleep is one of the strongest immune-boosters available to you. It can support your immune function through your lymph system and help your body restore itself each day. How is sleep one of the strongest lifestyle habits for healthy immune function? It allows your body and brain to recoup, restore, and fight disease. During sleep, your immune system releases cytokines which both promote sleep and fight disease. When you are awake, your body must do the work of being awake, moving, and maintaining an active brain. This takes most of its resources. When you are asleep, it can do maintenance on your body. What’s more, sleep deprivation is well-documented as a factor in decreased immunity and increased illness, decreasing immune cells in number and strength (1). One study of 1,654 participants aged 20-74 years looked at sleep and its effects on those with various illnesses. It followed these participants for 20 years (2). The results indicated that participants with existing high blood pressure or impaired blood sugars, who slept less than 6 hours per night, were 1.8 times likely to die of heart disease or stroke. 3. MAINTAIN HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS God has created us for relationships, and they are important for overall health and healthy immune function. Positive relationships can improve your mood and decrease stress. This, in turn, can promote a strong immune system (see more below). To maintain relationships even when you can’t always be with each other in-person: Invest in the relationships within your household and neighborhoods. Find new games to play, movies to watch, routes to walk, and other ways to make great memories together. Stay in touch with loved ones however you can. Use technology to video-call, send videos to friends, and keep in touch. Social media can be a negative addiction if left unchecked, but it can also be a great way to feel a sense of community if you’re away from loved ones. Maintain the relationships that are important to you. It’s good for your health and immune function! 4. LET GRATITUDE AND OPTIMISM PREVAIL It’s always the perfect time to allow gratitude and optimism to prevail. You can get your gratitude journal going again. You may have started one during the Thanksgiving and the Holiday Season last year. Or, this idea may be new to you. Gratitude journals, focusing on small daily blessings, are powerful. Being grateful is associated with better mental, emotional, and physical health and immunity. To start a gratitude journal, first simply get a pen and a paper, or a journal. Next, write 5-10 “gratitudes” per day. They can be big or small things. You can write them throughout the day, or at the beginning or end. Just choose to focus on simple gratitudes each day as one of your lifestyle habits to support healthy immune function and more. 5. EXERCISE EVERY DAY Right now, you might feel like you don’t have many options for exercise. But actually, you have 2 great options: exercise in your home OR outside. In fact, if you look online for free yoga, aerobic, or other classes, you’ll likely find some great ones. Some gyms and studios are offering online class streams. Or, get outside! Whether it’s just a short walk or a ride on a bike, God has given us a huge gift in the mood-elevating outdoors. Not only is any activity good for our muscles, hearts, and brains, outdoor-activity specifically has been shown to improve mood and depression (3). What’s more, if the sun is shining, your body will make Vitamin D, an immune-stimulated vitamin. And there’s even more good news: When you exercise, a group of immune cells called myokines are produced and released by the skeletal muscles. These promote immune function and whole-body health benefits (4). 6. PRAY CONTINUALLY Prayer is not a last-ditch effort for health and immune function, but a foundation for your relationship with God, your mental health, physical health, and entire well-being. In fact, prayer releases control from you and gives it to God. It helps change your heart towards any stressful situation, even if the situation itself doesn’t change. And lastly, it allows you to focus on truth. God’s truth is that He is with you in any circumstance. That nothing is too big. And, that He will walk with you through it. The act of prayer has shown to increase certain helpful neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, which help promote a state of relaxation, focus, motivation, and well-being. God has given us prayer as an amazing cortisol-releasing activity that brings us closer to Him while improving our health. As stress goes down, the efficacy of the immune system increases. 7. ENGAGE IN STRESS-RELEASE ACTIVITIES DAILY All of the above activities, from exercise to laughing to sleep, are stress-releasing activities. They all reduce cortisol, and this has a direct impact on your immune system. They are all stress-reducing, lifestyle habits for a strong immune system. But, you may know of some others to work great to reduce your own stress. What are they? Reading? Talking on the phone to a loved one? If needed, think of 1-3 more activities you can do each day to decrease stress and cortisol. As you do, you’ll promote immune health. High blood cortisol levels are correlated with increased blood pressure, poor immunity, negative moods, reduced sleep and energy, memory issues, and an increased incidence of diabetes and heart disease (5). Stress-reducing activities can help! 8. DETOX FROM UNHEALTHY EATING AND FLOOD YOUR BODY WITH NUTRIENTS SEVERAL TIMES PER YEAR Your body is constantly bombarded with unhealthy compounds, toxins, and chemicals. Every day. Every hour. Some of these are ingested, some are inhaled, and others are byproducts of your body’s processes. What can you do? You can detox, fast, and cleanse your body from foods that harm it, and flood your body with nutrients that promote healthy immune, liver, digestive, lymph, and kidney function. Interested? Learn more and sign up for Dr. Colbert’s 21 Day Detox and Fast today! Bottom Line You can use easy strategies to support your immune function and whole-body health. Get started now: laugh, sleep, maintain relationships, pray, reduce stress, exercise, and detox. Support your immune system in every way you can. Learn more about Dr. Colbert’s 21 Day Detox and Fast today. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Colbert click here.

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The 6 Systems that Detox the Body and What You Can Do to Aid the Body’s Natural Detox

AHA Publisher — Mon, 21 Sep 2020 07:00:39 +0000

Dr. Don Colbert – What does it mean to detox the body? It means helping the body’s systems that identify, filter and eliminate harmful substances and invaders. These toxins have made their way into the body through digestion, breathing, and cellular functions. And, it’s never been more needed. No other generations have been exposed to as many man-made chemicals, toxins, and compounds as the current ones. We breathe toxic air, we drink water with toxic substances and heavy metals, we eat highly processed foods with harmful additives and chemicals, we use medications and antibiotics to fight many conditions and microbes, and many of us have unhealthy bodies from sedentary lifestyles. It can seem a bit dismal. However, you can help detox the body. Your body has incredible, high-functions systems made to detoxify itself. And, you can do your part by giving these systems nutrients that fortify them while avoiding ones. Do you know which systems could use your help? The 6 systems that detox the body? Here’s which ones they are, and what you can do to help them. The 6 Systems That Detox and Cleanse the Body 1. THE LIVER The liver is an extremely important organ and is involved in digestion, hormonal balance, and overall functioning of the body. What’s more, it’s at the center of the main detox system for the body (1). You can think of the liver as the “mailroom” of the body. It takes in packages from digestion, sorts them, delivers usable compounds to the blood, and works to eliminate harmful ones. The liver helps detox the body by: Removing and/or inactivated toxin substances that make their way into the body via digestion. These include toxic components of foods, medications, etc. Extracting toxic byproducts found in the blood. These are often the result of cellular breakdown. The liver transforms that for excretion by the kidneys and/or intestines. Providing Kupffer’s cells to filter and destroy harmful foreign invaders like bacteria, viruses, fungi, and more. Eliminating toxic metabolites that result from intestinal fermentation and putrefaction. Producing bile that aids detox in the intestines And, you can help your liver! Work to reduce the toxic load on this organ by being mindful of what you consume. 2. THE KIDNEYS Next, the kidneys are a vital part of detoxifying the body. They purify the blood from harmful substances. These substances include toxic compounds from medications and chemicals. The kidneys filter these substances and deliver them to the urine for excretion. To do this important work, the kidneys must be in good working order. They should not be damaged or dehydrated. They work best when not bogged down with too high a concentration of toxins, especially synthetic ones. What’s more, high (or low) blood pressure can stand in the way of healthy kidney function. A healthy weight, hydration, and a good diet all support kidney health to detox the body. 3. THE INTESTINES The intestines are a cornerstone of human body function. They deliver nutrients to the entire body. In addition, they have the important task of eliminating toxins. How? Digestion starts at the mouth. From there, substances we ingest go to the stomach and intestines. Incredibly, entire foods are broken down and transformed into simple molecules that our cells can absorb. Once digested, nutrient molecules are absorbed into the bloodstream and transported to the liver. Remember, it’s the body’s mailroom, and it sorts the nutrients it receives. The liver sends out the goods to the rest of the body and dumps the toxins into the bile. The bile transports the toxins back to the small intestine to continue through the colon and out in the stool. The colon works with bile to further detox the body (2). It utilizes digested and fermented fiber to promote health, uses mucous membranes as finer filters, and forms stools to get rid of the rest. Yes, the intestines are extremely important to human health and cleansing the body. You can support digestive health by consuming prebiotics, probiotics, soluble and insoluble fibers, fluids, and more. You must also avoid foods that can destroy intestinal health, including some ultra-processed foods, inappropriate antibiotics, and more. 4. THE RESPIRATORY TRACT Believe it or not, your lungs also detox the body. In fact, they rid the body of carbon dioxide, toxins in the airways and blood, and phlegm. Healthy alveoli (tissues involved in oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange at the ends of bronchi in the lungs) do not let filter solids wastes from gaseous ones, and work as an emergency exit for toxins when forced out by the body. These toxic substances, such as microbes and their byproducts, can be found in the phlegm pushed out by the alveoli. 5. THE SKIN Amazingly, the human body has a fifth way of getting rid of toxins. The skin. The body’s largest organ is a powerhouse for protection and defense. How? It evacuates toxic waste products through sweat. The toxins are soluble in water and form crystals in the body. They can be pushed out through sweat or uric acid. In fact, many skin problems may be the result of waste products and toxins being cleansed through the skin or an allergic reaction to the toxins (3). If you suffer from skin irritations, rashes, or more, you may find relief when you detox the body. While the skin may suffer through the process, it may become much healthier thereafter. 6. THE LYMPH SYSTEM Don’t forget the lymph system. It plays a huge part in detoxifying and cleansing. In fact, approximately two liters of lymph fluid circulate the lymphatic vessels throughout the body. This fluid is constantly created from the interstitial fluid found between the body’s cells. It penetrates the capillaries and carries away waste products from the cells to the bloodstream for evacuation by other systems. In fact, the lymph system is responsible for the removal of waste products in the brain during sleep to further detox the body. The lymph system filters the toxic substances and produces white blood cells to fight invaders. When the lymph system is unhealthy, and the production of lymphocytes is insufficient, it becomes very difficult for the body to fight invaders and toxins. What Can You Do to Detox the Body? You can help your body detox and cleanse itself. It was created with these amazing systems, but our current foods, environment, and lifestyles make it difficult. To help detox the body, eat a healthy diet high in antioxidants, fluids, healthy fats, and greens. You can help your body defend itself! To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Colbert click here.

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