Our Total Body Weight (TBW) is represented on average by 60% water.  A 154 pound adult has just a little more than a quart (1.052 quarts/40 liters) in their body.  However, that amount can vary among individuals.  This 1+ quart of water is mostly present inside our cells (28 liters/40% of our TBW)).  The remaining water (about 14 liters/20% of our TBW) is contained outside our cells – in blood, lymph and interstitial fluid (the fluid outside cells and blood vessels. It contains water, electrolytes, sugars, salts, acids, hormones, neurotransmitters, and cell wastes.)

The lymphatic system is a second pathway back to the heart, parallel to the venous system.  The lymphatic system fine tunes the drainage of the connective tissue , kind of an “overflow” evacuating the water and excess substances in the interstitial environment.  It is a transportation system for proteins, foreign bodies, pathogenic substances (germs, toxins, etc.) and many other components.  The lymphatic nodes act as an active purification center breaking down and destroying those particles so they can eventually be flushed out of the body.

It is vital to our health to have our lymphatic system functioning properly.  If our body cannot drain stagnant fluids, detoxify, regenerate tissues, filter out toxins and foreign substances we create an environment of stagnation.  Over time this stagnation leads to the accumulation of fluids, proteins, cells and cellular dysfunction potentially leading to many physical ailments and premature aging.