Give me a pee!
Ever felt that the extra inch you can feel testing the seams of your best suit is truly unfair? Not unfair as in, “It’s so unfair that I can’t eat chocolate cake and drink beer five days a week and still stay slim”, but unfair as in, “I really haven’t been near the chocolate cake and beer and still I seem to be spreading. What’s going on?”
Sometimes the extra weight or expanded silhouette is due to fluid retention. Or in other words, water that your body is storing instead of letting go. Why would it do this?
There are two common reasons:
- The body thinks there’s a drought and is saving water to survive it.
- The body’s levels of sodium and potassium are so imbalanced that it becomes difficult for water to be released. In the drought scenario, not enough water is going in, or too many dehydrating drinks are being taken so that the amount of water going in isn’t enough. You need at least 1.5 litres of still, plain water daily to keep your kidneys ticking over properly. Add onto this 1 extra cup of water for every cup of tea you drink, and two extra cups for every cup of coffee that you drink. If you are drinking alcohol, try to match your water intake to your alcohol intake (this can seriously slow down a beer drinker, but massively reduces a hangover not to mention fluid retention). Keep your caffeine intake to a maximum of two cups per day.
In the second scenario, too much sodium (in the form of salt) is going into the body and the cellular pump that normally pumps out water gets confused and the cells end up waterlogged. Confusingly, you may find you are craving more salt in this situation. You need to:
- Avoid adding salt to any of your food, or at least swap to Herbamare or low sodium Plantaforce for flavouring
- Check your intake of salty foods such as crisps and salted nuts (doing a food diary for a few days can help with this, as sometimes you just don’t notice what’s going in)
- Use more herbs and spices instead of salt
Once you’ve reduced your salt intake, you’ll find that you can taste it better and need less.
In both scenarios (which are often present together) you may benefit from taking a tincture of the herb Dandelion, traditionally known for its diuretic properties. It helps the body to release fluid gently and painlessly and can be taken long term. Those with liver complaints, gallstones or an obstructed bile duct should first consult a Doctor. Do not take alongside diuretics.
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