Read This Before You Start Your New Year’s Resolution

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With the start of the New Year, it seems new health goals and resolutions are just a given. If you’ve got some new health initiatives on the table or are just feeling run down after the holidays, I’ve got a few tips to re-set your system, boost your immunity, and help you be much more successful with this years health goals. 

These are some of my favorite Ayurvedic tips that help keep the lymph moving. Lymph what? Huh? Why? Read on friend….

What is lymph and why is it important?

Our lymph travels with our nerves, arteries and veins and is twice as big as our arterial blood supply!

The lymphatic system removes waste from every single cell in the body (yes even all the way down to your little toes!) That said, it has to be running very efficiently, particularly if you’re thinking of embarking upon a New Years cleanse. You NEVER want to dump toxins into drains that aren’t working well.

The lymph is like the drains in our house and the blood is like the faucets.  It’s important we stop here and note, if you had a clogged sink in your home, you wouldn’t clean the faucet, you’d clear the drains. Our bodies are very much the same way. That said, the lymphatic system has to be running very efficiently, particularly if you’re thinking of embarking upon a New Years cleanse. You NEVER want to dump toxins into drains that aren’t working well.

Sadly, we don’t often talk about the lymph until it turns into cancer. In Ayurveda, the lymphatic system is the first system that is addressed. That’s because congested lymph is responsible for a variety of ailments.

Symptoms-of-Lymphatic-Congestion (1)

First, we must address that the number one cause of congested lymph is dehydration.  That leads me to your first lymph moving tip:

1. Drink hot water every ten minutes for a full day. Grab your favorite thermos and do your best to sip all day long. If that’s too much, aim for 2-3 big mugs of hot water. Now if at the end of the day your tongue feels dry, you’re dehydrated and the lymph is likely not moving well. If that’s the case, sip 2-3 mugs of hot water a day or tote your thermos for at least two weeks. Additionally, if you’re coming down with something, make this your go to move. It will help rid of waste and you’ll kick whatever’s got you down much more quickly.

2. Step two of operation lymph movement is eat raw beets. They will also work wonders with cleansing the liver and processing out holiday sugar. Beets will thin the bile which also helps break down extra holiday fat in the system and rev up an often sluggish liver after the holiday season. Bile is responsible for 80% of the immune response in the gut (small intestine) so it’s extremely important that if you want to nourish your best health and immunity, you’re giving the lymph and the liver some extra love.  Again, fresh raw beets are best. Juicing them is wonderful, as is grating them over salads.  Beet Kvass or raw beet krauts are quite tasty (and energizing) ways to get in some beets as well.

Here are my favorites:

beet_kvass-beet kraut

For optimal health aim for at least 1/4 cup of raw beets a day.

3. Last but not least, be sure and move each day to ensure your lymph is working efficiently. Exercise is one of the easiest ways to keep this precious system working well. Optimal lymph moving exercise would be rebounding on a trampoline. Just ten minutes a day will work wonders. Don’t be discouraged if you do not have a trampoline. All exercise helps move lymph. So crank up the music and dance, walk with your bestie or hit your favorite group fitness class. Yoga is also worth a mention as all the twists and poses can help with lymph movement as well.

Which tip or tips can you commit to in order to improve your health in 2014??

Please comment below or tag us in your healthy Instagram photos here!!

 

Melissa Schollaert is a Holistic Health & Nutrition Counselor and founder of Real Nutritious Living. Helping others achieve their health goals to attain their healthiest, happiest life is her greatest ambition.

Author: Melissa Schollaert

I'm Melissa—Holistic Health Coach & loving mama. My passion is to help others thrive through strategic eating (not dieting), living a toxic free life & creating healthier families.

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