Full Episode
Welcome to the Huberman Lab Podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life. I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today, we are discussing the lymphatic system. For many of you, the lymphatic system probably sounds a little bit esoteric.
And for many of you, the lymphatic system may even drop notions of people talking about lymphatic clearance or doing bizarre seeming types of very light massage or jade rollers or bouncing on trampolines. And I must say in researching this episode, I came to three general conclusions that I think are important to point out right now.
First of all, your lymphatic system is absolutely essential to your immediate and long-term health. It's an incredible system that is serving you right now as you listen to this, and it's a system that you need to support. The second conclusion is that the lymphatic system is somewhat cryptic.
and it doesn't get as much attention as say the cardiovascular system or your brain and nervous system or even the gut microbiome. And then the third conclusion is that the lymphatic system and what is sometimes just generally referred to as lymphatics often get kind of a bad rap.
And the reason is that a lot of the practices that are out there in the wellness space and health space that relate to lymphatics can often seem a little bit goofy or odd or kind of new agey or woo. Things like rebounding, like bouncing on a trampoline or shaking, things of that sort. And to some extent, they look odd because typically those aren't behaviors that most people engage in every day.
But once you understand the structure and function of the lymphatic system, which you soon will, you'll realize why things like rebounding, things like treading water, things like specific ways of breathing, actually serve the lymphatic system quite well. And there's a real basis for why those practices actually work.
So those are three general points about the lymphatic system to keep in mind today as we move forward. Another thing to keep in mind is that the lymphatic system is directly related to your appearance. Later you'll learn why if you were to stay up for one night and not get any sleep or even just get a poor night's sleep and you look at your face in the morning, you look very different.
after a poor night's sleep than you do after a great night's sleep. Sometimes you even look very different immediately upon waking after a great night's sleep, as opposed to a couple of hours later. Many people wake up with kind of bags under their eyes. They look kind of groggy. They look much older. And then a couple of hours later, they look fresh and that stuff is all cleared away.
And certainly not by doing anything cosmetic in terms of makeup or anything.
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