THE GLYMPHATIC SYSTEM

The glymphatic system is the network of lymphatic vessels in the brain that eliminate waste using cerebrospinal fluid. Until very recently, little was known about the role of the lymphatic system in neurological health. The Danish scientist Maiken Nedergaard identified the network of lymphatic vessels in the brain that eliminate toxins using cerebrospinal fluid. Nedergaard created the term glymphatic system, coining a word combining the brain’s glial cells with “lymphatic” due to the system’s dependence on glial cells.

One of the most important results of her research was the discovery that the glymphatic system works primarily while we sleep. The clearing out takes place twice as fast when you’re sleeping as opposed to when you’re awake. It uses the energy from the constant pulsing in the arteries to enable the exchange and drainage of waste products such as metabolites and proteins, and it connects to your brain’s lymphatic system to flush the waste down and out of your body. Besides waste elimination, the glymphatic system also facilitates brain-wide distribution of several compounds, including glucose, lipids, amino acids, growth factors, and neuromodulators.

Neuroscientists have discovered that the lymphatic vessels in the brain help clean out amyloid plaque, which are the clumps of protein that occur in abnormal amounts in Alzheimer’s patients and that are responsible for the disruption of cell function. Directors from the National Institutes of Health believe that cures for neurological disorders may come from studying the link between the glymphatic system and the cleaning out of the cell debris in the brain. Good lymphatic health is essential to good brain health.  

Supporting your glymphatic flow includes: prioritizing deep sleep, regular body movement, practising deep breathing, lymphatic self-massage, specifically the headache sequence in The Book of Lymph, and routine Ballancer®Pro sessions.