Lymphatic Fluid

Lymph is produced at the interface between the lacteal system and the lymphatic network. The lacteal system is a web network attached to the intestines that absorbs everything fully digested in the digestive tract. Because bacteria in the gut turn all digested substances into a milky fluid, the lacteal system receives this milky material and delivers it upward into the lymphatic glands and nodes. The lymphatic system then takes that lacteal fluid, processes and realigns its molecular structure, and outputs a translucent milky substance that is called lymph proper.

This conversion is not industrial processing but a biological realignment. The lymphatic system digests the lacteal for itself and produces a substance that is tailored to feed and clean every cell in the body. The result is described by Aajonus as looking like "a little bit of milk mixed in with some kind of gelatin," a translucent, slightly hazy fluid. This is the nutritive fluid that should, in healthy animals, continuously circulate through the lymphatic network and reach every cell in the body.

Aajonus was emphatic that in healthy animals, lymph performs two simultaneous jobs. First, it feeds every cell in the body except for the red and white blood cells once they have entered the bloodstream. While red and white blood cells are still maturing and dividing in the bone marrow, the lymphatic system is still responsible for feeding them. But once they enter the bloodstream and become mature, they draw nutrition directly from the intestinal tract as it passes through the intestines. Every other cell in the body is supposed to receive its nutrition from the lymphatic system via lymph fluid.

Second, lymph is the primary vehicle for removing all waste products and dead cells from the body. The lymphatic system collects dead cells that are not in the bloodstream, draws them into the nodes and glands, and dissolves them using a combination of bacteria, the fat content of lymph fluid, and what Aajonus described as alkalinizing minerals, specifically calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium, that are present in high concentrations in lymph. These minerals help neutralize acidity and facilitate the dissolution of dead cellular material. Once neutralized and dissolved, the waste is converted into a liquid and deposited into the connective tissue, primarily under the skin, to be perspired out through the body's largest organ. Aajonus stated that 90 percent of all the body's waste products are supposed to leave this way, through the skin via perspiration.

The lymphatic system operates through a two-tiered structure of nodes and glands distributed throughout the body. Nodes are small, ranging from the size of a pinhead to the size of a small pellet or BB. Glands are larger, ranging from the size of a small marble or pea to the size of a large bean or thumb, and can expand considerably when under heavy toxic load. There are hundreds of thousands of nodes distributed throughout the body, and approximately a thousand lymphatic glands.

When a toxic substance enters the lymphatic territory, the body first draws it into the nearest node. There, bacteria and fats go to work dissolving and neutralizing the substance. If the node cannot complete the neutralization, the partially neutralized material is transported to a lymph gland for further processing. The gland uses higher concentrations of bacteria, lymph fluid, and fat solvents to break down what the node could not. Once the material is sufficiently neutralized and reduced, it is pushed out into the connective tissue under the skin to be perspired away.

The bacteria in the lymphatic system are the primary agents of this breakdown process. Aajonus specified that it is mainly bacteria, not fungus, that does the cellular breakdown work within the lymphatic system. Fungus does not function prominently inside the lymphatic system itself. The bacteria break down dead cells, and the fat in the lymph fluid helps neutralize the resulting acids and toxic byproducts. The alkalinizing minerals present in the lymph fluid then help convert the acidic waste into something that can be safely dumped into the connective tissue without causing damage to the surrounding cells.

Aajonus described lymph as a fatty, thick, slow-moving substance. The systemic nature of the fluid makes it fundamentally different from blood, which is a faster-moving, thinner circulatory medium. The lymphatic system moves slowly precisely because its fluid is so fat-heavy and viscous. In a healthy state, this thickness is not a problem because the fluid remains fluid and warm enough to circulate. The problem arises when the quality of fats available to build lymph fluid is corrupted, or when foreign substances clog the nodes and glands and prevent circulation entirely.

Because lymph is so predominantly fat-based, it is directly shaped by the quality of fats consumed. When the body has access to raw animal fats and raw dairy fats, it can construct lymph fluid of the correct composition and viscosity. When the body receives hydrogenated vegetable oils, margarine, trans fatty acids, and processed cooking oils, those substances enter the lymphatic system and, because they are of a molecular structure Aajonus compared to plastic, they do not remain fluid at human body temperature. They harden, crystallize, and block the nodes and glands.

This is the central pathological process in Aajonus's framework regarding the lymphatic system. He traced the origin of widespread lymphatic congestion to the introduction of margarine and industrially processed vegetable oils in the early 1960s. Before that period, he said, lymphatic congestion was essentially unheard of. In herbivores whose body temperature runs 101 to 105 degrees, vegetable oils stay fluid, because those animals have multiple stomachs, chew their cud, and spend 48 hours processing vegetation through up to eight digestive compartments. In the human body, operating at lower digestive efficiency with a single stomach, these vegetable oils are barely etched by bile when raw, and almost not digested at all. When cooked, they are worse.

The critical problem is hydrogenation. Hydrogenated vegetable oils, including margarine, are produced through industrial chemical reactions that transform vegetable or petroleum oils into a substance that Aajonus described as sharing the same molecular structure as plastic. He stated directly: "That's how you make plastic. You hydrogenate oils and expose them to high temperatures and you have plastic." Once this plastic-like fat enters the human body, it crystallizes and hardens very quickly because human body temperature of 98.6 degrees is not high enough to keep it fluid. It lodges in the lymphatic nodes and glands and accumulates there over years, hardening into waxy deposits that block the flow of lymph fluid entirely.

The result is that lymph fluid cannot circulate, the nodes and glands fill with hardened material, and the entire dual function of the lymphatic system collapses. Aajonus also identified chemicals such as medications, preservatives, pesticides, herbicides, soy, flavoring additives, safflower oils, and peanut butter as substances that combine with hydrogenated oils to produce lymphatic congestion, with the hardening occurring over a period of five to twenty years of cumulative exposure.

When the lymphatic system is blocked and lymph fluid cannot circulate, Aajonus described two simultaneous catastrophic consequences. First, the system can no longer feed every cell in the body, because lymph fluid is not reaching them. The body compensates by forcing the bloodstream to take over the nutritive function, but the blood was not equipped for this. The blood's natural jobs are simply to deliver oxygen to cells for energy production and to carry out carbon dioxide. When it must also deliver nutrients, it is doing a full second job it was not designed for, and energy levels drop dramatically. Aajonus connected this to the profound fatigue that modern people experience compared to people living one hundred, two hundred, or five hundred years ago before hydrogenated fats and food additives were widespread.

Second, even the cleansing function of the lymphatic system is severely impaired. When lymph fluid is hardened and not circulating, the body cannot dissolve and eliminate dead cells. Those dead cells accumulate. Aajonus described this accumulation as the foundational mechanism behind tumor formation: dead cells that cannot be dissolved by lymph fluid and bacterial action collect in the lymph glands and nodes and form tumors, which he called temporary holding stations for dead cells waiting until the liver recuperates and can produce the right solvents, or until bacteria and parasites can dissolve them. He made clear that as long as swelling in lymph glands is present, it is a sign the system is still working. When lymph glands become hard as rock, that is when the system has failed and the condition may progress to advanced cancer.

When lymph fluid is deficient or absent from a node or gland, Aajonus said the node or gland fills with dead cells and no exterior fluid, no extra lacteal, to dissolve them. This is the physical mechanism of a lymph gland that has turned hard as rock. He also described a condition he called a lymphatic rosary or lymphatic ring in rheumatology, which indicates the lymphatic system is severely jammed with toxic vegetable oils and similar substances.

Aajonus stated on multiple occasions that 90 percent of the body's waste products are supposed to leave through the skin. The lymphatic system is the mechanism that makes this possible. Once lymph fluid has neutralized and dissolved a toxic substance or dead cell inside a node or gland, it reduces the waste to a liquid using the alkalinizing minerals calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium, and then dumps that liquid into the connective tissue, primarily just under the skin. From there, the body perspires it out through the skin.

When the lymphatic system is deficient or blocked, the waste it does manage to process is dumped into the connective tissue in an insufficiently neutralized form. When this inadequately neutralized waste passes through the skin, it damages the skin. Aajonus listed acne, rashes, hives, and even burns among the skin symptoms produced by this inadequately neutralized lymphatic waste coming through the skin surface. He said these conditions are not diseases of the skin but expressions of the lymphatic system dumping partially toxic material it could not fully process because of congestion or deficiency.

He noted that the greatest concentration of lymph nodes and glands is in the crotch area, with additional major concentrations in the breast and underarm areas, and then in the neck and jaw area. He observed that most rashes in the chest, breast, neck, and face area, as well as fungal rashes in the thigh area, correspond to these anatomical concentrations of lymphatic activity.

Because lymph fluid is 60 to 80 percent fat, the fat supply is the main nutrient for the lymphatic system. Aajonus described fat as the primary material the lymph system uses to make solvents, dissolve dead cells, produce cholesterol esters, and neutralize toxicity. Without adequate fat, especially the right kinds of raw animal fat, the lymph system cannot do its job.

He explained the cholesterol connection specifically: the lymph system dilutes and dissolves toxic substances partly by producing esters from fats that make cholesterol. Bacteria come in, consume the useful portions, and return them to the body to feed other cells. The waste products that cannot be reutilized are deposited under the skin for perspiration. This entire process depends on having sufficient raw fat available.

He also described the role of bile: the lymphatic system depends on the liver making bile, and bile is necessary for the lymph system to produce the fats it needs to make solvents to dissolve dead cells. If the liver is not working properly, it is not making the right bile to support the lymphatic system's fat-solvent production. This is why he repeatedly linked liver function to lymphatic function and why his dietary protocols for addressing congestion included raw fats.

Within the lymph fluid itself, bacteria are the primary workers. Aajonus emphasized that almost all of the lymph's processes are executed by bacteria, and that this bacteria requires the full complement of bacteria present in raw foods. When food is cooked, the bacteria are destroyed, and the lymph system loses the biological tools it needs to dissolve and neutralize waste.

He specified that in most cases, bacteria within the lymph nodes and glands break down dead cells, and the fat content of the lymph fluid helps neutralize the resulting toxins. In cases of severe metal poisoning, however, bacteria cannot fulfill their tasks because the metals poison them. In these situations, Aajonus described using a solvent-oriented fat to assist the bacteria in the lymph, since the bacterial process is incapacitated by the metal toxicity.

He also discussed the body using fungus and what he called virus, meaning cellular solvents produced by cells themselves, as additional tools when bacterial populations in the lymphatic territory are not adequate. He stated that fungal activity in the body's tissues, particularly in areas like the thigh where lymphatic concentrations are high, represents the lymph system using whatever alternative biological tools it can access because the bacterial population is not as prominent as it should be.

Aajonus was specific about interpreting swelling in lymph glands and nodes. A swollen lymph gland is not an indication of lymphatic cancer. It indicates that the gland has received a heavy toxic load and is working hard at its jobs of neutralizing and discarding waste. Swelling means the gland is active and doing its work. He wrote that we should expect swollen lymphatic glands as a daily part of modern toxic life.

The danger sign is not swelling but hardness. If a swollen area is soft, the system is working. If it becomes as hard as rock, the system has stopped functioning in that location. At that point, Aajonus said it is probably a protective coating after injury or it may be advanced cancer. He also said that lumps in the breast are not causes for fear if they are soft, because soft lumps indicate the lymph system is actively cleaning out toxins in that area. He encouraged people to palpate swollen areas to determine whether they are soft or hard.

Aajonus also addressed the body's occasional dumping of waste into the intestinal tract rather than through the skin. He said the body tries to avoid this because dumping into the intestines disturbs digestion and interferes with the ability to absorb nutrients from food. But because modern people are so toxic, the body ends up doing it constantly regardless, and some amount of lymphatic waste passes into the intestinal tract and exits with feces and urine.

Beyond hydrogenated oils and food chemicals, Aajonus identified industrial solvents as a distinct category of substances that damage lymphatic fluid and the lymphatic system. He observed this primarily in people with heavy occupational exposure, such as janitors who regularly use products like Windex, or people raised near metal factories or exposed to antifreeze and similar chemicals. He described seeing industrial solvents stored in the lymphatic area and said these chemicals actively dissolve the lymphatic connective tissue rather than just blocking it. He connected this to conditions such as multiple sclerosis and severe deformities, distinguishing it from the more common blockage pattern caused by hydrogenated oils.

He also described his own personal experience with forced injections that congested his lymphatic system with poisons, and his use of multiple hot water bottles applied while he slept to drive heat into the lymphatic system and begin melting the congestion. He specified seven hot water bottles placed at the calves, between the thighs, at each hip, in each armpit, and at the left side.

Aajonus described a specific sequence by which blocked lymph fluid leads to tumor formation. When the lymph nodes and glands cannot dissolve dead cells because the lymph fluid is insufficient or the system is blocked, dead cells accumulate in the glands. These accumulations are tumors. He distinguished between tumors that are growing with fluid, indicating the lymph system is still attempting to work, and tumors that are hardening, indicating the system has stopped.

Cancer cells, in Aajonus's framework, arise as the body's extreme solution to this accumulation. He described cancer cells as containing high concentrations of viral solvents and muriatic acid-like substances, with each cancer cell containing enough solvent fluid to dissolve 50 to 200 surrounding dead cells. The body produces cancer cells when the lymph system is too congested to dissolve dead cells on its own and the liver is not producing adequate fat-based solvents. The cancer cell performs the dissolution that the lymph fluid cannot.

The solution, in Aajonus's framework, is to get the lymphatic system working again through hot baths, dietary fat, raw cheese to absorb poisons and prevent their reabsorption, and the lymphatic bath mixture designed to keep melted lymphatic congestion fluid as body temperature normalizes. If the lymph system can be restored to function, the body stops needing to build tumors because the dead cells can once again be dissolved through normal lymph fluid processes.

Because hardened lymphatic deposits are the physical obstruction to lymph fluid flow, the primary physical intervention Aajonus developed is the lymphatic bath. The protocol is based on his laboratory work: he took lymphatic glands and placed them in water at various temperatures to determine what temperature and duration was required to melt the hardened hydrogenated fat deposits. He found that 105 degrees for at least 90 minutes was what melted them.

He further found through testing on an amputated limb placed in warm water that it took 60 minutes for heat to penetrate to the deepest lymphatic gland, and then an additional 30 minutes at that temperature to begin melting the hardened material. This is why the bath must be sustained for the full 60 to 90 minutes and why shorter sessions achieve only superficial results. He used the analogy of a cold stick of butter sealed inside a two-cup glass jar placed in 105 to 108 degree water: it takes 40 minutes before the butter even begins to melt, because the cold interior continues generating cold outward while the heat works from the exterior.

The recommended bath temperature is 102 to 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Aajonus noted a typo in many printings of "We Want to Live" that stated a maximum of 110 degrees, and in newsletters he clarified that while 110 degrees would work faster, 102 to 104 degrees is the safer range. He cautioned that 110 degrees every day for extended periods could cause problems, citing the case of a man who did 110-degree baths for 90 minutes every day for three and a half months and became exhausted and sluggish, suggesting his lymph system dumped more toxins into the connective tissue than he could clear.

For the bath to be meaningful for the lymphatic system itself, as opposed to just the connective tissue under the skin, 90 minutes is required. Aajonus said 45 minutes is enough to begin melting the outer layer of congestion under the skin and to free up the sweat glands so perspiration can occur, but to actually reach and begin melting the deeper lymph nodes and glands takes the full 60 to 90 minutes.

He recommended taking these baths every three to four days, never closer than three days apart, because after a long lymphatic bath the system dumps melted material into the connective tissue, and the body needs two days of short 35 to 40 minute baths to perspire that released material out of the connective tissue before a full lymphatic bath is repeated. He found approximately one in twenty people beginning the protocol were developing congestion in the connective tissue when they did baths too frequently, and he warned that connective tissue congestion can progress to conditions like MS and lupus.

The practical problem with a lymphatic bath is that once body temperature normalizes after the bath, the melted material will re-harden unless something in the system prevents it. Aajonus developed a specific blended formula consumed immediately before or upon entering the bath to address this. The formula is designed so that as the lymph system melts the outer layer of congested fat and begins moving it into the connective tissue, the formula's ingredients circulate into the lymphatic space and keep that melted fluid from hardening again when body temperature returns to 98.6 and below.

The formula from "We Want to Live" is: one-quarter to one cup of unripe pineapple, three to six tablespoons coconut cream, one to three tablespoons unsalted raw butter, and one to two tablespoons raw dairy cream. Aajonus specified that the measured ingredients should be equal for whatever amount is used, meaning if you use one-quarter cup of pineapple you use three tablespoons each of the other ingredients, scaling proportionally for larger amounts. This mixture is blended and consumed right when entering the bath.

In later refinements, Aajonus amended the timing, suggesting the mixture could be consumed as a fruit meal during the day rather than immediately upon entering the bath. He also mentioned that a small amount of honey could be added to the formula to prevent rashes, which can occur when the melted material is too concentrated with toxins as it moves through the skin. He noted that the honey helps prevent the rash response without undermining the detoxification.

After getting out of the bath, Aajonus advised getting out slowly, sitting on the toilet seat or a nearby chair for about 10 minutes to continue perspiring, patting dry rather than rubbing, bundling up warmly, and taking a walk. He also recommended eating meat and butter or a lubrication formula after the bath, and on subsequent days eating cheese frequently so that any poisons re-entering the digestive tract from the lymph system are bound and removed through the bowels rather than reabsorbed.

Aajonus adjusted the protocol based on a person's specific degree of lymphatic congestion and overall condition. For someone whose congestion is primarily under the skin rather than deep in the lymph glands and nodes, he said 40 minutes minimum is sufficient to begin clearing the surface layer, though he recommended going for the full 90 minutes anyway. For someone whose lymph glands and nodes are deeply jammed, 90 minutes minimum is required.

For very thin people, he issued a specific warning: do not begin lymphatic baths until you have put on at least ten to fifteen pounds of weight above your normal frame. His reasoning was that when the lymph system dumps its dissolved toxic material, including mercury, thallium, or lead, into the connective tissue, the fats in that connective tissue serve as a protective buffer. Without enough fat in the tissue, the released toxins damage the connective tissue directly. He said the possible results of such damage are conditions like MS or lupus, which is disintegration of the connective tissue.

He also noted that people with high blood pressure may need to cool their brain during the bath by placing cold water or ice on the top of the head and breathing slowly and deeply every two to three minutes to prevent the body's overheating response, which can cause discomfort or lightheadedness.

For a case involving a man with extreme fatigue who could barely function, Aajonus described prescribing the diet first for six months before introducing baths, then beginning baths about a year in. He recommended 90-minute baths twice a week, with 35 to 40 minute shorter baths on the other days to clear the connective tissue. After three months of this protocol, the man recovered dramatically.

For someone with lymphatic congestion beginning to affect the intestinal tract, particularly the small intestines, he described urgency about beginning the bath protocol immediately, because if the lymph system is so backed up that it is starting to dry out the intestinal area, the deterioration can accelerate rapidly across the whole system.

For someone needing to support a lymphatic system with particularly heavy metal deposits, he recommended no cilantro in the vegetable juice, using instead 85 percent celery and 15 percent parsley, and eating approximately 14 to 16 ounces of meat per day with 75 percent red meat and 25 percent white meat or seafood.