WATER RETENTION

Causes, remedies, drugs, dietary treatment


Causes of Water Retention The Waterfall Diet Downloads Other Treatments A reader's personal story Forum by Linda Lazarides Nutritional health expert Author of the Waterfall Diet	Little understood by doctors, water (fluid) retention can cause breast tenderness, painful, swollen joints, bloating, overweight and many other problems. If you can answer yes to two or more of the following symptoms, you may be affected by this condition Water Retention Questionnaire Have you worked hard to lose weight using conventional methods, and found that you cannot get below a certain weight even if you persevere for months or years? Press a fingernail firmly into your thumb-pad. Does it stay deeply dented for more than a second or two? Press the tip of your finger into the inside of your shin-bone. Can your finger make a dent? Water retention can collect in the legs and ankles. Do you get any swelling there? Does your shoe size seem to increase as you get older? Do your rings sometimes seem not to fit you any more? Is your tummy often tight and swollen? Do you ever suffer from breast tenderness (women)? Does your weight ever fluctuate by several pounds within the space of only 24 hours?
	What Causes Water Retention?
	The direct cause is abnormal changes in The pressure inside the smallest blood vessels in your body (known as your capillaries) The permeability (leakiness) of the capillary walls. These changes cause fluid to leak into the surrounding tissues, where it can accumulate in the tissue spaces around and between your body's cells. The reason why water retention can be so hard to diagnose is that almost all your body's tissues have plenty of capacity to hold a little more fluid without looking abnormal. In fact, this fluid just makes you look fat. Fluid seeps from your capillaries and collects in the spaces between your cells (see diagram). Drinking less liquid will not stop water retention, and could aggravate the problem. Blood vessel changes can have many different causes, and are often linked to eating habits. But it is not as simple as eating a "bad diet" or a "good diet". Some people can react abnormally to certain foods - for instance by producing a lot of histamine. Histamine makes small blood vessels leaky, and can be a major cause of water retention. Some foods can make you retain fluid by slowing down your kidneys. Other foods can actually help your kidneys work better. Other causes of retaining fluid include anaemia (anemia), protein deficiency and an abnormally high need for one or more vitamins or minerals. These nutritional problems can arise if you have water retention but go on a very low-calorie diet because you believe your overweight is due to fat. Many people eat 1,000 calories per day or less for months or years, which puts them at risk of developing a whole range of nutritional deficiencies. The recommended diet for water retention is the Waterfall Diet. This diet encourages your body to release excess fluid by addressing the reasons why you are retaining it. For women, hormonal changes prior to menstrual periods can also cause water retention. Producing extra hormones requires more nutrients, so mild premenstrual nutritional deficiencies are especially likely to occur at this time, and these can account for various unpleasant symptoms, including breast tenderness and tummy swelling. Heart or kidney disease can also cause water retention. If you have gross swelling (oedema or edema) of the legs and ankles you should consult a doctor immediately. More about the Waterfall Diet

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