Exercise - Essential For Circulation
2005.
Awaiting revision 2007
Humans are not made to sit around for long periods.
It is only in recent centuries that the majority of the
population has spent so much time sitting on production
lines, at desks or workstations, watching TV or playing
computer games.
It is not just the heart, lungs and muscles which
benefit from exercise. Exercise is vital for whole body
health.
To understand why, we must understand what happens
when the blood circulates on the microscopic level; and also
the importance of a secondary circulating fluid...
Good Circulation Is A Major Key To Keeping
Healthy Increased circulation is the major benefit of
exercise.
What needs circulating in the body?
1. The blood - this is pretty obvious; but good
circulation of:
2. The lymph, is also vital for good
health.
The What?!
Yes - the lymph. It is very, very important to keep
the lymph fluid circulating well. The lymph is the fluid,
other than blood, that is contained within the tissues of the
body.
The lymphatic system is a network of blind-ended
vessels, and nodes that transport the lymph throughout the
body.
The lymph nodes (or lymph glands) are little
nodules within the lymph vessels which are 'factories' for
making white blood cells.
There are particular concentrations of these in
your groin, throat, and armpits.
When the lymph nodes swell and become tender, it is
usually a bad sign and a good sign! It is a bad sign in that
you have an infection, somewhere near the swollen nodes; but
a good sign in that the lymph nodes are 'working overtime',
to produce extra white blood cells to fight off the
infection.
It is important to note that the lymph vessels are
blind-ended. Lymph has no equivalent of a heart to pump it
around the system; it relies on being squeezed by our muscles
as we move. It can pass through the vessels in one direction
only thanks to the blind ends of the vessels acting as
valves. There is only one way to circulate this vital lymph
fluid. And that way is - exercise.
What Does Lymph Fluid Do? To help you to
appreciate the importance of the lymph fluid to good health,
let's have a look at what it does.
Firstly, lymph completes the circulation of the
blood. As the blood vessels get tinier and tinier, components
of the blood are squeezed out through tiny gaps. This fluid -
called tissue fluid - carries nourishment with it to every
cell.
Once the tissue fluid has passed on its
nourishment, the lymph vessels help to collect it up again.
The fluid now also contains waste products passed into it
from the cells, such as dissolved carbon dioxide.
The lymph vessels then direct the tissue fluid back
towards the blood circulation system again. The waste
products are removed from it, mainly in the kidneys and
liver.
Secondly, the lymph fluid has a vital task in
transporting white blood cells around the body. White blood
cells are the major component of our IMMUNE system. They are
rushed immediately to any area of damage or inflammation in
the body. They fight off invading 'pathogens' (bugs); and
repair or recycle damaged body cells coming to the end of
their life cycle.
[Next:
Exercise and the vital Lymph Circulation...]
|