Why is Drainage Important?

When beginning to construct a house, you’re naturally going to stir up some dust, dirt and debris in the process. The same kind of thing can happen within your body when you address the layers of chronic symptoms and dysfunction. When you start to move and clear out the waste and toxins in the body, we need to make sure it has a place to go that isn't continuing to contaminate the "construction site". That is what I mean by drainage.

You may hear the terms drainage and detox used interchangeably, but there is a big difference that is important to understand. Detox is when we’re intentionally grabbing onto harmful toxins and pathogens and pulling them out of the body. Drainage is the path that those waste products need to follow to actually exit the body. If your drainage pathways are stagnant or impaired, detox efforts are going to be impaired as well and you may be more likely to experience a Herxheimer reaction. 

The Jarisch-Herxheimer Reaction, known colloquially as a “herx”, was discovered by dermatologists Adolf Jarisch and Karl Herxheimer in their work on syphilis. Herx refers to a temporary worsening of symptoms as a result of killing off bacteria faster than the body can eliminate the waste products. There are some practitioners, homeopaths, and health influencers who see lengthy Herxheimer reactions as a good thing. In my view, they can and should be minimized; the healing process shouldn’t make you feel worse for weeks on end. If any reactions are not temporary, it’s time to reevaluate and take a different approach.

I’m indebted to CellCore Biosciences for developing this concept and graphic to explain the drainage funnel. The aim is to address drainage from the bottom up beginning with the colon. If there is constipation, everything above that is going to get backed up as well. It’s really important to support daily bowel movements (ideally 2-3 times a day). Continuing upwards, if the liver and bile ducts are stressed or weakened, that will negatively affect the efficiency of the lymphatic system and so on. The organs and tissues section includes the glymphatic system which clears cellular wastes and fluids from the brain. Weaknesses in this area might be expressed as brain fog, cognition and memory issues, and anxiety.

At the top of the funnel are the cells and mitochondria, which you probably remember from high school biology as “the powerhouse of the cell”. The mitochondria generates most of the chemical energy to power the cell’s biochemical reactions. If the cells are lacking minerals, hydration, and sunlight exposure, there can be some impacts to how effectively nutrients can move in and waste can move out of each individual cell. Persistent fatigue, insulin resistance, and sleep disturbances are examples of things that could point to some degree of mitochondrial dysfunction.

When the primary drainage pathways on the funnel become overburdened, the secondary pathways of the skin, lungs, and kidneys may become overwhelmed also as they attempt to expel excess waste from the body. This stress on the secondary pathways could be expressed as rashes, acne, or eczema. It could also look like increased susceptibility to respiratory illness or allergies.

Before jumping into any detox, it’s critical to support drainage and to continue to optimize drainage during any detox protocols to minimize any negative impacts of the “dust and debris” that will get stirred up in the body. Drainage does not have to be perfect before beginning detox because the toxins and pathogens that require detox can be the very thing contributing to drainage congestion, but drainage should be functioning and continuing to improve in efficiency. Increasingly optimal drainage will also improve the effectiveness of any detox.