This is the first thing we teach you during the Renata França© training, that the blood system and the lymphatic system are inseparable. Working on them separately is a waste of time, so we won't forget anyone!
The lymphatic circulation and the blood circulation run parallel and criss-cross every corner of the human body. Loaded with white blood cells (our body's staunch immune defenders), lymph has the same properties as blood, but without the red blood cells. This is what gives it its translucent colour. Like blood, lymph transports important nutrients to be distributed, but also hormones, toxins and waste to be evacuated. Apart from their composition, one of the biggest differences between these two circuits is the natural pump. For the blood circulation, it is the heart that agitates all this!
The right side of the heart is responsible for returning oxygen-poor blood to the lungs to remove carbon dioxide and re-oxygenate the blood.
The left side of the heart receives freshly oxygenated blood from the lungs and redistributes it throughout the body.
For the lymphatic circulation, there is no pump. This makes this circulation, which is littered with ganglion chains (clusters of lymph nodes in certain places in the body), particularly slow. The principle of the Renata França certified lymphatic drainage is to unclog these ganglion chains loaded with lymph and to re-dynamise the circulation of the lymph: in short, to redistribute the liquids evenly.
What is water retention?
Water retention, as its name suggests, is a bio-mechanism that will retain liquids in the body. It is the result of an imbalance between filtration and evacuation.
In the same way as the dietary imbalance between the intake and the nutritional needs will create weight gain, the lymphatic imbalance between the filtration and the evacuation of the waste products of the lymph will create oedemas (=poorly distributed liquid).
What are the triggers for water retention?
Lifestyle
A bad diet saturates the lymphatic system (and people still ask me what diet has to do with the lymphatic system?!). Some nutrients, especially some fats that are not metabolised (used) by the digestive system will be sent back to the lymphatic system. Hence the interest in draining this circuit loaded with ingested surpluses.
Lack of hydration
The body is made up of 80% water, so it is essential to renew it. Water deprivation, i.e. consuming less than 1.5L per day, will generate (we'll give you that) water retention! In the same way as food deprivation induces the vicious circle of restriction and compulsion, and storage after each compulsion to compensate for the next restriction, water deprivation generates storage. It is therefore IMPERATIVE to drink, drink, drink to avoid liquid stasis (water retention).
Lack of physical activity
Without a pump to activate the lymphatic circulation, it is the movements of the body that will act on it. Sporting activity has an effect on venous return but also on lymphatic return. So without saying to sign up for the next New York Marathon, walk, walk, walk.
Lack of sleep
Lack of sleep is accompanied by an increase in the production of the glucocorticoid hormone cortisol. A scientific word for the fact that it regulates carbohydrates, fats, proteins, ions and water to limit any variation in the body's physiological balance. Also known as the stress hormone, cortisol in excess will create a dysfunction often associated with weight gain or water retention.
Genetic predisposition
If your mother, grandmother, aunt and others are prone to oedema and water retention, there is no miracle cure other than manual lymphatic drainage by Renata França©.
Hormonal problems
Contraception and the menopause are two elements that can involuntarily trigger high water retention.
Hypothyroidism (detectable by serology) is also a factor in water retention.
A study of 373 couples published in the journal Human Reproduction also showed a fairly direct link between an individual's high cortisol level and lower fertility. A body loaded with cortisol has therefore nothing to envy to the others, quite the contrary. And the manual lymphatic drainage is an excellent method to unclog this lymphatic system in elements not always beneficial.
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