Your elimination system includes your liver, large intestine, lymphatic system, and skin. They are critical for clearing out hormones that have been circulating through your bloodstream out of your body. Think about what might happen if all the hormones your body naturally produced plus all the hormones you consume through food, medications, and products you use, stayed in your body! Over time, this build up of hormones would become toxic to your health [a build up of estrogen, for example, creates the perfect environment for tumors to grow].
Your elimination system is your body's natural detoxifier [yay!]. The liver breaks down hormones and other substances into smaller, more manageable molecules, which travel through your gallbladder and into your large intestine. There they combine with the fiber you eat and leave your body in the form of a bowel movement. So, when you go to the bathroom, you're not only disposing of by-products of the foods you eat, you're also getting rid of chemical waste [i.e. broken down, excess hormones].
The skin and lymphatic system work together to get rid of cellular waste and excess hormones too. Your skin is your largest organ [you're likely heard this before] and the large number of pores provide a natural way for waste to leave the body, in the form of sweat. Your lymphatic system is an expressway for clearing out waste from your bloodstream and the lymph node areas of your body are where most of the magic happens. This is why it's so important to keep these regions flowing, as they are also near key hormone-sensitive areas like breast tissue and ovaries. You've probably already seen this process in action first-hand, for example, when stress hormones leave the body. Have you ever noticed a not-so-great change in the smell of your armpit odor when you're in a stressful situation? [I have!] This is your lymph-skin elimination channel trying to help compensate for dangerous levels of stress hormones in the body.
Thank goodness for the body's natural mechanisms for preserving hormonal and functional balance! ......That is - as long as we nurture them.
Comments