In three minutes a day you can boost your health and help your body eliminate toxins. The trick is dry brushing your body with a palm-sized, natural-bristle brush. Always move toward your heart, and include your palms and the soles of your feet, recommends Suzannah Olivier in "The Detox Manual." Work on dry skin, and avoid any broken skin. It's best to dry brush prior to your shower. Wash your brush weekly in mild soap and allow the brush to air dry.
Improve Lymph Flow
Dry brushing stimulates lymph flow through the lymph channels, encouraging toxin elimination from skin, says Olivier. Lymph fluid carries waste from your cells to the organs that eliminate the waste. However, there's no pump for this system as in your circulatory system. Lymph moves around the body via valves that keep it headed the right direction and via contractions of your major muscles, which exert pressure on the system. When you dry brush, the light pressure of the brush helps to physically move lymph through your lymph channels, giving a similar effect to a muscle contraction, says Ellen Kamhi in "Alternative Medicine Magazine's Definitive Guide To Weight Loss." You also stimulate the lymph nodes under your skin by brushing, note Ellen Kamhi and Eugene R. Zampieron, authors of "Arthritis."
Your lymph system is a major part of your immune system, say the experts at the National Institutes of Health. Lymph nodes filter your lymph fluid to remove foreign material like cancer cells or bacteria. When your body has bacteria in its lymph fluid, your lymph nodes create more infection-fighting white blood cells. Lymph fluid is clear to white and is made of fluid from your intestines known as chyle, which contains fats and proteins, and white blood cells, according to NIH. Dry brushing in the long term, says Olivier, will increase your resistance to infections if you combine it with alternating hot and cold showers. Dry brushing theory is actually based on acupuncture. When you apply friction to the approximately 3 million nerve points along the surface of your skin you invigorate your nervous system because you are stimulating these energy connections, Kamhi adds. About 700 of these points are nodal, say Kamhi and Zampieron.
Boost Circulation
Dry body brushing stimulates your circulatory system, says Anne Williams, author of "Spa Bodywork: A Guide for Massage Therapists." Rough hand mitts or terry cloths can be used in lieu of a body brush, Williams notes. Boosting your circulation can help to reduce cellulite and lose weight faster, says Linda Berry, author of "Internal Cleansing." Use firm strokes when you brush. Your skin may look slightly flushed when you are finished. If your skin actually gets red, however, you are brushing too hard, Berry advises.
Exfoliate
Dry brushing exfoliates your skin. Exfoliating removes dead skin cells and surface debris to open clogged pores, notes Janice Cox in "Natural Beauty From The Garden." Ridding your skin of dead cells is essential for maintaining youthful looking and supple skin, advises Berry. You will feel invigorated and your skin will glow when you are done brushing, Cox notes. After washing away the dead skin you've exfoliated, pat your skin lightly with a towel, and follow with a moisturizer instead of rubbing dry, Cox advises.
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