Beat The Bloat And Water Retention:
Carrying around excess water in your body can leave you feeling unpleasantly bloated and shabby. Whether you’re looking for an overnight 24-hour quick-fix or have a few days or a week to lose that water weight, there are ways to do it without much fuss. Most of them involve dietary changes and tweaks that are easy to incorporate and should start showing results soon.
Water Retention Or Edema Causes Heaviness And Makes Clothes Feel Tight.
Edema or water retention can cause swelling in various parts of the body as a result of excess fluid in your body tissues. You’ll also feel a heaviness or fullness in the legs and arms. The water weight can make your clothes or jewellery feel too tight and cause discomfort. Even your skin might begin to feel tight or warm due to the swelling. It may cause some pain and a decline in the range of motion in affected joints.
Not sure if the swelling is due to water weight? Just press firmly on a swollen body part – if it leaves a dent where you pressed it is likely to be due to an edema.
This water retention can be the result of a range of problems that include heart, liver, or vascular/circulatory problems. Women may see fluid retention around the time of their monthly menstrual period or when they are pregnant. But it can also happen when you sit or stand for great lengths of time without moving much. You might notice this happening to you after a long haul flight or after a long day’s work where you’ve been sitting or standing all day.
Use These Tips But Also Investigate Underlying Cause:
1. Cut Down Sodium Intake To Shed Excess Water
Most modern diets have a lot of sodium intake – far more than is needed. You’ll find sodium in packaged soups, canned food, frozen meals, condiments like sauces, pickles, and seasonings. Plus, of course, in more obviously salty foods like packaged potato chips and fast food. Unfortunately, having very high levels of sodium in the body causes your body to retain more water to compensate and keep the balance of water to electrolytes. This causes your blood pressure to rise and raises the risk of stroke and heart disease.
The simplest way to drop water weight? Simply cut out these kinds of high-sodium foods from your diet and monitor your intake even in your fresh cooked meals.
2. Get Adequate Magnesium To Prevent PMS-Related Water Weight Gain
Magnesium is another mineral that needs to be present in the body in the right amounts to ensure the optimal balance of electrolytes and fluid. Magnesium is especially relevant in the context of water weight for women. That’s because it has a pivotal role during the woman’s menstrual cycle in warding off classic premenstrual syndrome symptoms (PMS) like mood swings and fluid retention.
Consume magnesium-rich foods like almonds, spinach, black beans, edamame, avocado, or yogurt for water weight loss results.
3.Increase Potassium Intake To Moderate Sodium Levels
Potassium too can restore the balance of electrolytes in the body, especially from high sodium intake. If you have a potassium restricted diet, it will cause your body to compensate by conserving sodium. As the body holds on to more sodium, it will also need to retain more water to keep the body fluid concentration right. And that translates to increased water weight.
If you want to lose this water weight, ensure you are having potassium enough to compensate for your sodium intake. The increased potassium can increase your urine production, helping you lose that excess water weight. Intake of potassium can be obtained through foods like spinach, broccoli, baked potato with the skin on, bananas, tomatoes, and quinoa.
4. Cut Down Carbohydrates To Reduce Glycogen And Insulin Linked Water Weight
Carbohydrates are probably already on the chopping block if you’re trying to knock off excess weight. But did you know that your carbohydrate intake could also be causing you to hold more water in the body? Carbs are usually stored in your liver and muscles as glycogen and this has a tendency to pull water.
In addition, carbohydrates, especially refined ones, cause insulin levels in the body to rise. Insulin causes a rise in sodium levels, which in turn leads to re-absorption of water by your kidneys – and that dreaded water weight or bloat.
5. Get Adequate Protein To Prevent Fluid Accumulation In Tissues
A protein deficiency too could contribute to water accumulation in the body. Serum albumin, a type of protein found in your blood maintains a form of pressure (oncotic) that causes water to be drawn into the blood. In doing so, it prevents excess water from accumulating in your tissues.
According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, you should get 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of your body weight every day.
6. Get Moving And Exercise To Sweat Out The Water
Sitting still for lengths of time or even standing without moving much for long hours can cause you to develop edema or swelling as fluid pools in your body’s extremities, especially the ankles and feet. Physical activity plays an important role when it comes to losing this kind of water weight. By getting up and moving, you boost your circulation and sweat out some of that extra water from your body.
7. Have Ayurvedic Remedies To Balance Water Weight Issues
Ayurveda views edema as a problem that can afflict all the three body doshas or types. Herbal remedies recommended for treating this water retention are:
- Gokshura or Tribulus terrestris
- Ashwagandha or Withania somnifera
- Punarnavasava
The use of dandelion, coriander, and sarsaparilla is suggested as well. It is also recommended that you avoid dry foods like corn as well as sodas, salt/salty foods, high sugar foods, and high sodium foods.
8. Practice Yoga To Reduce Fluid Retention And Lose Weight
Yoga is a great way to get fit, tone up your body, and even lose weight. But it can also help with water weight by easing edema or fluid retention. Here are asanas you should focus on to do this:
- Shirshasana or headstand doesn’t just reduce edema, but also boosts your circulation in general, which can then ease swelling.
- Surya namaskar or sun salutation can help reduce swelling, pooling of blood, and edema or fluid retention.
- Supta virasana or reclining hero pose can reduce your tendency to develop excessive water retention.
- Viparita karani or legs-up-the-wall pose is a mild inversion that can help keep your lymph moving and ease fluid retention or swelling.
Cardamom is a natural diuretic that ayurveda has employed as a digestive aid and natural diuretic for centuries. Animal studies have found its effectiveness comparable to commercial manufactured diuretic medication. Exact dosage and the form in which you consume it will depend on your age, health, weight, and other factors and will need to be suggested by a Ayurvedic Viadya. The powdered seed will need to be taken with a juice or in blends with other medicinal herbs.
10. Try Natural Diuretic Methi (Fenugreek Seeds) For Improved Spleen Function:
Another spice cupboard remedy, exotic fenugreek seeds are also useful for losing water weight besides helping digestion. The seeds help stimulate spleen and liver function, preventing water retention. Like cardamom, it is also a natural diuretic. Soak about a tablespoon of fenugreek seeds in a cup of water for a couple of hours and have this once or twice a day. You can also add fenugreek seed powder to your cooking.
Seek the guidance of your own doctor to see if this will work for you.
