IMMUNITY AND LYMPHATIC SYSTEM

Role of Yoga and other exercises in improving immunity and good health

1. As Covid-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc throughout the world, Immunity has become a hot topic. What is immunity? How to improve immunity are the questions making rounds everywhere.

1.1 Immunity is the power of the body to fight against infections and disease. It is the most important weapon which protects an individual from infections like Covid-19. Our lymphatic system plays a very important role in immune system.

1.2       Lymph is a fluid which is generated in interstitial spaces between the cells. Arterial blood carries oxygen, nutrients, and hormones for the cells. To reach these cells it leaves the small arteries and flows into the tissues. This fluid is now known as interstitial fluid and it delivers its nourshing products to the cells. Then it leaves the cell and removes waste products.

1.3       After this task is complete, 90% of this fluid returns to the circulatory system as venous blood. The remaining 10% of the fluid that stays behind in the tissues as a clear to yellowish fluid is known as lymph.

1.4       The lymph is moved through the body in its own vessels making a one-way journey from the interstitial spaces to the subclavian veins at the base of the neck. As it moves upward toward the neck the lymph passes through lymph nodes which filter it to remove debris and pathogens. Thus, the lymphatic system aids the immune system in removing and destroying waste, debris, dead blood cells, pathogens, toxins, and cancer cells.

2. Lymphatic vessels do not have any pump: Blood is pumped by the heart. However, lymphatic system does not have any pump. Since the lymphatic system does not have a heart to pump it, its upward movement depends on the motions of the muscle and joint pumps. Therefore, movement of muscles and joints is very important for lymphatic circulation. Only when lymphatic circulation takes place, lymph moves from its place of origin to the lymph nodes where pathogens are killed and debris removed. If lymphatic system is weak, pathogens are not killed and toxins and debris get accumulated in the body. This will lead to infections and disease.

3. How yoga improves immunity:   Yoga helps in movement of muscles and joints and thereby helps in lymphatic circulation. For example, suryanamaskara is a whole body exercise which has many benefits including activating lymphatic system. Similarly, Pranayama like Bastrika, Kapalbhati etc also improve lymphatic circulation. For that matter, any gentle exercise like walking improves lymphatic circulation. Effective lymphatic system means strong immunity.

4. Importance of walking:    Gentle exercises offer extraordinary health benefits. Studies suggest that the people who live longest are not the ones who do the most exercise but rather the ones who move the most. Walking promotes good health and improves immunity. Studies have shown that walking improves life expectancy.

 I-Min Lee, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and her team focused on a group of more than 16,000 women in their seventies, comparing the number of steps taken each day with the likelihood of dying from any cause – known as all-cause mortality. They found that women who took more than 4,000 steps a day were significantly more likely to still be alive than those who did only 2,700 steps. It’s surprising that such a small difference could have consequences for something as critical as longevity. By that logic, you might assume the more steps they took, the better. For a range of steps that was true – but only up to 7,500 steps a day, after which the benefits then plateaued. Any more than that made no difference to life expectancy.

5. Sitting is the new smoking: Sitting for a prolonged time has many deleterious effects. Studies suggest that metabolism slows down 90 percent after 30 minutes of sitting. The enzymes that move the bad fat from your arteries to your muscles, where it can get burned off, slow down. And after two hours, good cholesterol drops 20 percent. Just getting up for five minutes is going to get the thing going again. Most importantly, prolonged sitting weakens the immunity as lymphatic circulation slows down. Therefore, avoiding prolonged sitting prevents many diseases and offers extraordinary health benefits.

6. Even if you are not able to allocate separate time for exercise because of some days of travel or busy schedule you should make it a part of your life style to keep walking whenever it is possible. Besides, avoid prolonged sitting. Get up and walk few steps at frequent intervals.

7.  Immunity is the best weapon of the body against infections and disease. Many things help in improving immunity such as healthy life style, exercise, good nutrition, pranayama, meditation and stress free life. Yoga, pranayama, massage and gentle exercises like walking strengthen immunity by activating the lymphatic system.