Naturopathy

Water retention can be very unpleasant & symptomatic. Your clothes/shoes may not fit, you may also feel sluggish, relief from these symptoms is achievable, and the good news is!! its through Natural means.

Causes Of Water Retention

Excessive water weight in the tissues can point to some medical conditions such as hepatic ‘liver’, cardiac ‘heart’, or renal disease ‘kidneys’.

Otherwise most water retention is caused by various dietary, environmental, and hormonal factors. Whenever there is an abnormal accumulation of water in body tissues or cavities, it is referred to as water retention. When there is no determined medical cause, water retention is referred to as idiopathic edema (or oedema).

How The Body Retains Water

Your body is continually balancing water inside and outside of cells. In a complex interplay between hormones and prostaglandins, your body signals your kidneys to excrete more or less urine to compensate for the liquid being taken in or denied. It’s not uncommon for this system to become imbalanced, which can result in excess fluid accumulating outside the cells and in the body’s tissues.

To balance back this process, you can make some adjustments in your diet to help the water get back where it belongs. Here are six bone-healthy tips for doing just that.

Here’s six effective, scientifically-proven ways to reduce water retention, and all of them are beneficial for your bones.

1. Dandelions

Drink Dandelion tea.

2. Consume Foods Rich In Vitamin B6

Have you ever noticed increased urination when you take B-complex vitamins? That’s due to the presence of B6, a water-soluble vitamin that has a significant diuretic effect. Vitamin B6 occurs naturally in foods such as the following

• Brown rice
• Avocado
• Beef
• Chilli peppers
• Walnuts
• Turkey
• Kefir
• Oats
• Bananas
• Eggs

Vitamin B6 has been shown to help relieve water retention associated with the menstrual cycle, so if you’re dealing with monthly bloating, it might be a good idea to increase consumption of the above foods. Aside from eating the foods mentioned above, it’s a good idea to take a B-complex supplement, to ensure that you’re getting adequate amounts of all B vitamins.

3. Decrease Salt Consumption

Table salt is sodium chloride; there are no other minerals present. That fact alone should alert you to the potential for imbalance –In the absence of other minerals, particularly potassium, table salt can disrupt the passage of water across cell membranes, resulting in too much water outside the cells. In addition, excessive salt increases urinary calcium output, contributing to low bone density.

Cut back on your salt intake and avoid processed, packaged foods, since they typically contain lots of salt. Make sure to replace the salt you put in your food with alkalising sea or Himalayan salt.

4. Eat Lots Of Potassium-Rich Foods

Potassium balances sodium, decreasing sodium levels in the body and boosting urine production. The following foods are high in potassium,

• Beet greens
• Cherries
• Dates
• Avocado
• Spinach
• Lentils
• Pinto beans
• Sweet potatoes
• Swiss chard
• Lima beans
• Bananas

5. Cut Back On Sugar And Refined Carbohydrates

Sugar contributes to water retention, because sugar influences insulin levels and insulin, in turn, regulates water resorption by the kidneys.

A 2011 study notes that:

“Sodium transport through various nephron segments is quite important in regulating sodium reabsorption and blood pressure.”³

Too much sugar spikes insulin levels, and high levels of insulin signal your kidneys to reabsorb sodium and retain fluid., so as you cut back on sugar and refined carbohydrates, you’ll be doing your bones a big favour too, since excessive table sugar consumption is harmful to bones.

6. Increase Magnesium Intake

Magnesium is involved in over 300 metabolic processes, so it’s not surprising that fluid retention would be influenced by this mineral.

Magnesium is a bone-building mineral as well. Eat these following Foods to increase your magnesium levels, and or supplement with a good quality supplement.

• Spinach
• Black beans
• Almonds
• Brown rice
• Lima beans
• Swiss chard
• Pumpkin seeds
• Halibut fish
• Oat bran
• Bananas

As the evidence mounts in favour of an alkalising diet, you should be confident that alkaline foods are best not only for bones, but for heart, liver, kidneys, muscles, nerves, digestive system, and so much more!