YOU’VE HEARD OF LYMPH, WHAT ABOUT GLYMPH?
The Difference between Lymph and Glymph
When I heard of the word glymph, my silly cartoon loving mind jumped to the visual of a lymph that went glamping!
So what is the glymph system? You’ve heard of the lymphatic system and most of you know that it has everything to do with your immune system but did you know that it also has to do with the elimination of waste products, bacteria and the removal of toxins. Lymph can bind to all the toxic waste products and filter these out by combining with other waste materials to be excreted. The lymph system removes bodily waste whereas the glymph system removes brain waste!
Is this not trippy and super cool at the same time (nerd alert, yes I get excited about physiology).
The Brain's System to Clear Waste
Our poor brains never ever stop working. For those of you that have that mind that doesn’t shut off at night to sleep, you know what I am talking about. Just like running an engine that gives off fumes, the brain does the same. If it is always working, it is processing and generating waste products…but where and how do these waste materials get cleared?
The brain is locked away from the rest of our body and is separated by a system of two very durable impenetrable barriers: the blood-brain barrier and the blood cerebral spinal fluid barrier. When these systems are properly working, they ONLY allow a one way direction of transmission to occur. This unidirectional flow includes oxygen, nutrients and chemical messages to make it’s way up to the brain.
There are special cells (glial cells…get it: GL-Lymph) that live in the brain and they work to help remove brain waste by forming drainage routes often times alongside veins and arteries that eventually hook up with our lymphatic system by way of nerves, vessels and the outer membrane covering of the brain.
How Sleep Impacts the Glymph System
But how do we actually clear waste products from our brain then? Breakthrough research done on Alzheimers patients, showed that the glymph system has a significant connection to our sleep cycles. Most activities of the glymph system occur during sleep. The theory is that neurons expel their contents during sleep creating a 60% increase in space between the layers of tissue in the brain making room to clear out waste during this time.
Quality of sleep can directly impact how our brain efficiently clears out waste products.
Limit computer or phone exposure before bedtime. Monitors can suppress the release of melatonin.
Black out shades
Magnesium is a great supplement to help improve sleep.
Sleeping on your side is best to clear brain waste.
How is your sleep? What changes can you make to help support your sleep dependent glymph system?