Water Retention

Most of the advice that you will find on the internet for how to get rid of water retention (also known as fluid retention or edema) consists of:

• Reduce salt and salty foods
• Drink more water
• Eat so-called ‘diuretic foods’
• Take diuretic medicines (water pills)

In reality this advice is rather simplistic. Most of the people who write it are not experts but are recycling stuff which they themselves have found online.

How to get rid of water retention is actually a bit more complex..

.. so it’s not surprising if you’ve tried all these things and not got very far. If you’ve been buying water pills you’ve probably discovered they only provide temporary relief and can make your water retention worse.

For professional reasons I have to advise everyone with water retention to visit a doctor, just in case there is an underlying disease. Usually there is not. If you just have a swollen tummy, legs, ankles, feet or hands, or if you think you are suffering from excess water weight, it is most likely that you have a type of water retention called idiopathic edema. Your doctor should be able to confirm this. I call it type 2 water retention. It just means that your water retention is of unknown cause.

For how to get rid of type 2 water retention, forget about diuretics or water pills. They make the problem worse, not better, because they dehydrate your blood and teach your body to hold on to water. People who have used them for a long time report that they swell up very badly as soon as the pills wear off.

How to get rid of water retention by changing your diet

Some people can get rid of their fluid retention just by improving their diet. Reducing the amount of sugary foods and drinks, alcohol, deep-fried foods and red meat is important. These should be replaced by fish and chicken, plus five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. These changes will provide the lacking vitamins and minerals that you need to keep water retention at bay.

For other people with more complex needs these changes may not be enough. In these cases you should consider following the Waterfall Diet. This can be found in a book with the same name. The book includes some self-tests to help you fine-tune the diet to your own needs, and a lot of information about all the different causes of water retention. For details of where to get the book (paperback or E-guide) see the panel on the right-hand side.

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