How to Remove Water Retention

But, like everything else, too much water may be harmful. Excess fluids in the body cause bloating, puffiness, and swelling, also known as water weight. So, in this piece, we’ll attempt to find out the best strategies to get rid of water retention.

What exactly is water retention?

Water retention is caused by the failure of the veins and lymph vessels to efficiently drain water from the tissues. Symptoms may appear practically everywhere on the body, including the stomach, face, arms, legs, and hips.

Many individuals may mistake water weight for body fat, which is normal! It might be difficult to detect at times, depending on where the water retention is visible on the body. However, if you acquire a few pounds overnight, it’s only water weight and maybe rapidly lost.

What factors contribute to water retention?

Water retention may be caused by a variety of factors. It might be a mixture of these variables, or it could be simply one:

A high-sodium diet. Water retention is caused by an excess of salt. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a daily salt consumption of fewer than 2,300 milligrams (mg) in a balanced diet. The typical human, on the other hand, eats more than 3,500 mg of salt each day.

You may be taking too much sodium if you consume a lot of processed foods, and restaurant meals, and use table salt regularly. It’s usually a good idea to read the nutrition label on food items to see how much salt is in it before buying. Reducing the number of times you dine out may also assist.

Try not to add additional salt to your meals, and avoid using sauces — they are often high in sodium!

Lifestyle. If you perform a job that requires you to sit or stand all day, you may experience water retention as a result of poor blood circulation and elevated blood vessel pressure.

Another lifestyle and hormonal component that might induce water retention is long-term stress. Cortisol, the stress hormone, may raise the antidiuretic hormone, which regulates the body’s water balance.

Kidneys. People with renal disease or kidney failure may gradually begin to discharge fewer fluids. Water retention, commonly known as oedema, may occur when the kidneys fail to function properly.

Hormones. Women are more prone than males to be impacted by water retention due to hormonal swings. This is why women often feel bloated before their menstrual cycle begins. Birth control has a direct impact on a woman’s hormones and may induce water retention.

Medication. Some drugs, such as high blood pressure medication, pain relievers, birth control pills, antidepressants, and chemotherapy treatment, cause water retention.

The simplest method to determine the underlying reason for your water retention is to consult with your doctor. If you have this problem on a regular basis and can’t figure out what’s causing it, your doctor may be able to do tests to narrow down the possibilities.

How to Quickly Get Rid of Water Retention

Now that you know what might be causing your water retention, let’s look at how to get rid of it fast and prevent it from happening again.

1. Begin with a low-sodium diet.

As previously said, you should maintain your salt levels at the recommended daily consumption of 2,300mg per day. If your sodium levels are either low or too high, it will cause imbalances in your body, resulting in fluid retention.

Sodium-rich diets mostly consist of processed foods and restaurant meals. Table salt may also add sodium to your diet. However, most individuals get the bulk of their salt from packaged and processed foods.

Foods rich in salt that you should avoid include:

• Sauces
• Meals in a box
• Vegetables, canned
• Soup in a can
• Noodles in an instant
• Hot dogs and other deli meats

Eating packaged meals sometimes will not hurt you, but if you consume them on a regular basis, you are more likely to have fluid retention. If feasible, use low-sodium substitutes.

Restaurants also use additional salt to season and improve the taste of their food. It’s no surprise that the meals at your favorite restaurant are too good to pass up! Although seasoning salts offer a pleasant taste to many meals, using them on a daily basis might result in chronic fluid retention.

I suggest beginning cautiously by minimizing the amount of salt you use in cooking and avoiding bottled sauces (do it yourself!). as well as saying “no” to pickles/pizzas and other high-sodium foods.

Allow yourself some time to acclimate. To begin, you may notice that meals lack flavor without salt. However, after a time, your senses will adjust, and you will distinguish the true flavor of natural food.

Believe me, if you want to get rid of water retention quickly, you must follow this diet. That’s always worked well for me. And I’m certain it will provide speedy benefits for you as well.

A list of items to consume more of to counteract water retention includes:

• Nuts
• Grain (whole)
• Chocolate (dark)
• Green leafy veggies

These are magnesium-rich whole foods with several health advantages. Magnesium is a mineral that is required by the body to operate effectively. If you’re a woman having premenstrual symptoms such as water retention, increasing your magnesium intake may help.

2. Cut down on carbohydrates

Cutting carbohydrates, commonly known as carbs, is a frequent technique for swiftly losing extra water weight. Excess carbohydrates are stored as glycogen in the muscles and liver. There are 3 grams of water connected to every gram of glycogen stored in the body.

Reduced carbohydrate consumption helps your body to utilize stored glycogen as a source of energy, reducing water retention. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the typical American eats more than the recommended daily consumption of 130g per day (2015–2020).

Carbohydrate-rich foods include potatoes, rice, bread, pasta, and pastries, among others. Check to visit my article “Low-glycemic diet for weight reduction” to learn more about carbohydrates.

Eating extra protein is an excellent strategy to lower your carb consumption. A high-protein diet promotes weight reduction and keeps you satiated for longer.

Consume meals that are high in protein, such as:

• Eggs
• Almonds
• Avocados
• Lentils
• Cheese
• Oats
• Milk
• Broccoli
• Chicken
• Turkey
• Other types of poultry

Try eating some of these protein-rich meals for breakfast every day to have greater energy throughout the day and swiftly lose water retention.

Because your insulin levels become more consistent, cutting carbohydrates also helps to lower hunger. You may have fewer sugar and junk food cravings. So, attempt to cut down on carbohydrates while increasing protein and healthy fats in your diet.

3. Use diuretics.

If you want to get rid of water retention quickly, you may use diuretics. Diuretics, often known as water tablets, assist the body in excreting excess salt and fluid via urination. Water tablets lower blood pressure and may be used with other drugs.

You might also try natural herbs used in alternative medicine to cure water retention. Herbs are both safe and effective, and they have the potential to deliver additional health advantages. If you are averse to conventional medicine, this is an excellent therapy choice.

Dandelion, also known as Taraxacum officinale, is one of the most effective natural diuretics, allowing the kidneys to excrete excess water. This plant is abundant in potassium and antioxidants, which aid in improving the immune system.

Other plants that may be used as a natural diuretic to lose water weight besides dandelion include:

• Cornsilk
• Horsetail
• Parsley
• Hibiscus
• Garlic
• Fennel
• Nettle

And, if you’re a coffee junkie reading this, you may be wondering, “Isn’t coffee a natural diuretic?”

Yes, it is true! Coffee is a natural diuretic and may temporarily minimize water retention; however, excessive caffeine intake can increase water retention.

Limiting your caffeine intake to one cup of coffee per day allows you to get the advantages of coffee without the hazards associated with excessive caffeine use.

4. Consume electrolytes

Electrolytes are minerals that are important to life. They include sodium, chloride, calcium, magnesium, and potassium. They perform an important function in the body, such as controlling water balance.

Poor electrolyte levels, according to studies, may induce dehydration, exhaustion, headaches, nausea, blood pressure fluctuations, muscular cramps, and low energy.

Potassium, an electrolyte as well as a mineral, lowers water retention in two ways:

• Reduces sodium levels — As potassium levels rise, sodium levels fall. When potassium levels fall, sodium levels rise. Increasing your potassium intake may help keep your salt levels low, allowing you to avoid and lose water weight.
• Increases the desire to pee — Although high potassium levels might increase urine output, frequent urination can also be an indication of Hyperkalemia, which happens when there is an excess of potassium in the blood.

There is no official recommended daily intake for potassium; nevertheless, consuming roughly 3,500–4,700mg of potassium from food is adequate.

Many individuals don’t receive enough potassium in their diets, thus their sodium levels are excessive. Potassium-rich foods that you may include in your diet include:

• Bananas
• Potatoes
• Spinach and broccoli, cooked.
• Mushrooms
• Cucumbers
• Peas
• Avocados
• Watermelon
• Beans

These foods contain additional electrolytes and may assist you in achieving a well-balanced diet.

5. Increase your water consumption.

Contrary to popular belief, drinking more water may help decrease water retention. Health experts generally suggest eight 8-ounce glasses each day, which is around 2 liters, or half a gallon.

When dehydrated, the body will hold onto more water in order to avoid dehydration. Proper hydration also aids kidney function by helping the body to expel toxins and excess fluids.

Drinking a full glass of water first thing in the morning is a wonderful strategy to enhance your water consumption.

Unless you drink water while sleeping (which I’m sure no one does), your body dehydrates overnight. Drinking the majority of your water in the morning rehydrates your body and makes it simpler to meet your daily water requirements.

6. Deal with stress

As previously stated, cortisol may raise the hormone that regulates the body’s water balance. Unfortunately, many individuals have stressful lifestyles, which have a negative influence on their health.

Stress-related complications aren’t always simple to see, so many individuals are unaware of the problem. The symptoms and levels of stress vary from person to person. Symptoms may include regular headaches, sleeplessness, memory and concentration issues, and so on.

Stress-reduction techniques include the following:

• Exercising
• Putting out a candle
• Journaling
• Taking a hot bath
• Tea is being consumed.
• Taking a day off from your demanding work to unwind

According to the American Institute of Stress, the leading source of stress among Americans is work pressure. I’m sure you can connect to this if you’re like the majority. If feasible, take a sick day from work to concentrate on your mental health. One day off may not seem like much, but it may make a significant impact. If having a sick day is not an option, use the following ideas throughout the day. The final message is that prioritizing self-care and mental wellness may greatly decrease stress. As a result, the body may quickly lose water weight.

Another wonderful tip: if you know it’s difficult to avoid stress entirely, prepare your body to cope with it by taking soothing herbs and natural supplements, participating in activities you like, and getting enough sleep every night. It will aid in the reduction of cortisol levels and the prevention of water retention.

Whew! You’ve made it all the way to the end of this post, and you now know how to get rid of water retention quickly!

However, water weight is difficult and may never totally go. There will be moments in your life when your body will undergo changes (periods, pregnancy, age etc.). There will be occasions when you’re eating habits will shift. The human body is intricate. You may have assumed that one factor was causing your water retention, only to discover that another one was at work.

However, by following the advice in this article, you may adjust your lifestyle and nutrition and see benefits rapidly.

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