What Do You Know About The Glymphatic System?
The glymphatic system is the coolest part of your body that you have probably never heard of. It wasn’t taught when I was in school. Only in the recent years has its existence even been made widely known. In this article we’ll explore what it is, when it functions, how to make it work well for you, and a quick hack that might make it work even better.
So, What is The Glymphatic System?
The glymphatic system is like the brain’s built-in cleaning crew. It’s a network of channels that clears out waste and toxins from the central nervous system (CNS), which includes your brain and spinal cord. Think of it as a plumbing system that uses cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)—a clear liquid surrounding the brain and spine—to flush away junk that builds up during the day, like protein fragments and metabolic leftovers.
How Was the Glymphatic System Discovered?
The glymphatic system was uncovered in 2012 and published in Science Translational Medicine by Dr. Maiken Nedergaard’s team at the University of Rochester. Using two-photon microscopy, they watched dye-injected cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow through mouse brains in real time. They saw CSF rush along blood vessel pathways, flushing waste with help from glial cells—naming it the “glymphatic system” for its glial-driven, lymphatic-like action. A key finding was that it worked best during sleep, building on earlier hints about brain fluid dynamics.
What Is The Glymphatic System’s Primary Function?
The main function of the glynphatic system is to keep your CNS free of old debris. It removes waste products, such as amyloid-beta (a protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease), and helps deliver nutrients and other essentials to brain cells. Basically, it’s a maintenance system that keeps your brain running smoothly and prevents a buildup of harmful stuff.
Is The Glympathic System Active All Day Just Like the Heart and Lymph Systems?
Here’s the cool part: the glymphatic system kicks into high gear when you’re asleep. During the day, you are thinking hard, reacting to many inputs, making decisions, troubleshooting, stressing out, and generally quite busy. This puts your brain in processing mode, not cleansing mode, and stuff accumulates. Your brain has to literally relax for the cleansing to work well. Just like the janitorial cleaning crew that works at night, the glymphatic system does it most efficient work when the brain isn’t busy with conscious inputs. Studies show it’s most active during deep sleep stages, which is why deep restorative sleep feels so refreshing.
Is This Why People Feel Like Garbage When They Haven’t Slept for Days?
Sleep is the glymphatic system’s golden hour. When you’re asleep, brain cells actually shrink slightly, making more space for CSF to flow through and wash away waste. Without sleep, this process slows down or doesn’t happen efficiently. It’s like forgetting to take out the trash—things start piling up, and the mess gets harder to manage.
What Happens If the Central Nervous System Doesn’t Get Cleansed Nightly?
If the glymphatic system doesn’t do its job regularly, waste can build up in your brain. Over time, this might contribute to problems like brain fog, memory issues, or even increase the risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, where toxic proteins play a role. It’s not an instant disaster, but a long-term clog in the system could spell trouble for your brain health.
Here are Some Simple Tips to Make the Glymphatic System Work Better
Since deep sleep is the main key to making the glymphatic system work at peak levels, then whatever helps you get deep sleep will improve the glymphatic system’s performance. Here are a few tips:
- Stick to a Regular Sleep Schedule: Plan on 7-9 hours of sleep. Practice good sleep hygiene and wind down in a way that prepares you for a restful night.
- Sleep Position: Some studies suggest sleeping on your side (lateral position) might help the system work more efficiently. Some observational studies have linked side-sleeping with lower rates of dementia. So, maybe there is something to side-sleeping if that is how you are comfortable.
- Stay Hydrated: Of course. Everything works better when you are hydrated. Proper hydration supports CSF production, which is key for the flushing process.
- Be Active during the day: We know from other research and experience that we seem to sleep better when you have moved around a lot in the day instead of being sedentary. A laborer’s rest is sweet.
- Reduce Stress: Being stressed out makes it hard to sleep. You need to take steps to deal with stressful situations. Prayer, journaling, deep breathing and counseling might help you with stress so you can get a good night’s sleep. And that is the key to brain cleansing.
How Can I Tell the Glymphatic System is Working?
You can’t exactly peek inside your brain to check, but there are clues. If you wake up feeling refreshed, with a clear mind and good focus, that’s a sign your brain got a decent cleanup overnight. On the flip side, feeling groggy or sluggish after poor sleep might hint that the system didn’t get a full run. Not being a morning person doesn’t mean that your glymphatic system isn’t working. That has more to do with cortisol levels (morning people get a cortisol peak earlier than night owls) and your body’s circadian rhythm.
Does Sleeping on An Inclined Bed Improve Glymphatic Cleansing?
The basic thinking behind this comes from how gravity could influence fluid dynamics in your body, including the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that the glymphatic system relies on to clear waste from the brain. When you elevate the head of your bed slightly, gravity may improve the flow of fluids in and around your brain. Some researchers speculate that this could enhance the glymphatic system’s efficiency by helping CSF circulate more effectively or drain waste more easily, especially since gravity already plays a role in how fluids shift when we’re lying down.
Anecdotally, some folks who sleep on a slight incline—say, 4-6 inches of head elevation (roughly 5° depending on bed length)—report feeling more refreshed, which could hint at better brain cleanup. But that’s not hard proof. I don’t think inclined sleep has been tested for better glymphatic cleansing. It makes sense, so you might give it a try. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once adapted you don’t really notice it at all. How to do it? Just put a couple of bricks under the head of the bed to elevate the bed frame about 4-6 inches. It is a very quick and cheap hack. And it is quickly undone as well.
Wrapping It Up
The glymphatic system is your brain’s unsung hero, quietly scrubbing away the day’s mess while you dream. Sleep is its fuel. So, here is another reason to work at getting great sleep. It will help your brain be clean, clear, free of debris, and perhaps less likely to succumb to neurodegenerative diseases. The glymphatic system is one of those amazing systems that reminds us how much our bodies do behind the scenes—and how much we can support them with simple choices.
