Causes of water retention

The changes within your body which cause water retention are intimately linked to what you eat. They can be set off by any of the following

• Regularly eating too much salt and/or sugar
• Not eating enough fresh fruit and vegetables
• High levels of wastes or toxins in your body
• Taking certain commonly-prescribed medications
• Long-term use of very low-calorie diets, which tend to be deficient in protein and other nutrients
• Food intolerances (similar to allergies) are common causes of water retention
• Lack of exercise
• Chronic dehydration

Too much salt and sugar

These are common causes of water retention. Salt affects your kidneys and blood pressure. The sodium in salt makes your kidneys hold on to water instead of excreting it.

Eating too much sugar raises levels of the hormone insulin. High insulin levels make it hard for you to excrete sodium. As sodium accumulates it causes water retention so people who indulge a sweet tooth can be prone to water retention.

A lack of fruit and vegetables

Certain fruits and vegetables contain special ingredients which help to prevent your blood vessels from leaking fluid into your tissue spaces. To treat or prevent water retention, it is vital to include them in your diet. A deficiency of fruit and vegetable nutrients is one of the commonest causes of water retention.

There are also herbal products which help to strengthen blood vessels. These herbs are not the same as the herbal diuretics which make your kidneys work harder.

Wastes and toxins

Cellulite is a form of fat combined with water. Sometimes it holds so much water that it is painful to the touch. Metabolic wastes and toxins such as pesticides which the body cannot easily release tend to be stored in this fat and water retention. The only way to get rid of them is to use foods and herbs which support your body’s detox mechanisms.

Prescribed medicines

If you are on prescription medicines you may not realise that some of the most common medications can be causes of water retention. They make you retain water because they affect your body’s handling of sodium and insulin. The contraceptive pill is one of the commonest causes of water retention and can make you gain a lot of water weight very quickly.

Very low-calorie diets

If you have water retention you are very likely to be overweight. But overweight people tend to go on a low-calorie diet. A low-calorie diet is one of the causes of water retention. And if you already have water retention, it can unfortunately make it worse, especially if you eat less than 1,200 Calories a day for months or years.

One of the most important nutrients to prevent water retention is protein. Protein is in short supply in very low-calorie diets. The most suitable diet for people with water retention is the Waterfall Diet.

Food intolerances

Overloading the stomach, drinking alcohol, taking medications and antibiotics, consuming too much sugar, not getting enough dietary fibre – all these modern-day habits can affect your digestive ability. Undigested particles can get into your blood system and stimulate your immune cells to produce histamine. This histamine is a potentially big cause of water retention.

Lack of exercise

People who spend a lot of time immobile, e.g. those in hospital beds, wheelchairs, or on long-haul flights, even “couch potatoes” can develop water retention because without regular movement to help it, your lymphatic system cannot drain excess fluid out of your tissue spaces.

Chronic dehydration

Consuming too many diuretic drinks (drinks which make you pee more) such as tea, coffee and alcohol, or taking water pills (diuretic medicines or herbs) can lead to chronic, long-term dehydration. This forces your body to hold on to water to prevent damage to your body’s tissues.

For instance, people who regularly take water pills can find that they swell up with water retention whenever the pills wear off. This is known as ‘rebound’ water retention.

It may seem contradictory, but the solution is to drink the recommended two litres of water a day. Water is the only drink which can keep you properly hydrated.

Water retention is a complex condition. You can find detailed information about its causes and how to treat them in Linda Lazarides’ book The Waterfall Diet. The information in this book provides the fastest route to getting rid of water retention quickly and permanently. It is especially useful for showing you to test yourself to find out which foods are safe for you to eat and which are not. Read reviews.

The Waterfall Diet book is available from:

• Amazon.com
• Amazon.co.uk

Or download Low-Carb Dieting and the Waterfall Diet, an e-book which also provides full instructions for the diet.

Recovering from anorexia

I’m not an expert on anorexia. The advice I give to those who ask me for help aims most of all to be good common sense.

First, you need to think about why you have anorexia. The more honest anorexics I’ve spoken to admit it’s their way of feeling in control. And it’s also got a lot to do with having an addictive and maybe a compulsive personality.

Self-expression
Many people with anorexia are using it as a way of expressing themselves. Just like when you were angry with your mum as a small child and the only way you could manipulate her was by refusing to eat.

A woman with anorexia (let’s call her ‘Lisa’) worked in my office once. She was secretive about her anorexia, covering up her arms and legs so that I couldn’t see how thin she was. Lisa had issues with being told what to do. Whenever I asked her to do filing work, which she felt was beneath her (it was a job I never did myself) she never openly objected, but she would do it very sloppily.

Lisa’s way of expressing her objections was by not eating. One day she very pointedly asked me to unscrew a jar for her. I unscrewed it very easily and she used this as an opportunity to say ‘I think you’ve probably realised there’s something wrong, haven’t you?’ I didn’t really know what she was talking about, but I said yes anyway to encourage her to talk.

‘The fact is, I’ve suffered from anorexia for a long time, and it’s got much worse since I’ve been working for you. I’m finding that the filing work is really making it worse, so could you maybe do that instead of me?’

Manipulation
Yes, it was childish manipulation and I wasn’t having any of it. But how sad it was to be stuck at that level of emotional development. When you have such a distorted way of looking at the world maybe it is very tempting, in a world where thin = beautiful, to take your habit just that little bit further until it becomes compulsive.

Some anorexics who claim to be recovering do not really have any intention of doing so. They approach nutritionists for help, not with eating more, but with coping with the side effects of malnutrition. For instance ‘Is there a vitamin pill I can take to give me more energy?’ or ‘I’ve put on a lot of weight due to water retention because of my anorexia. What should I do to get rid of it?’

If you’re determined
If you’re really determined to get better, people around you will always be glad to help. Yes, it’s scary to eat normally – you think you’re going to look like Pavarotti the minute you eat a potato chip or a piece of steak. But you will not get rid of this mindset unless you throw down your defences and come out of isolation. A really good step is to join a group like the Eating Disorders Association or its US equivalent. Psychotherapy can also help. Try to make friends with people who eat sensibly. Ask them for help and copy what they eat. If they are not overweight then if you eat the same as them you won’t get overweight either. It’s hard at first as your appetite will be small, but perseverance will reap its rewards.

Here’s a picture of a starving child. The tummy is swollen with water retention caused by protein deficiency and lack of food. Anorexics can get a swollen tummy for similar reasons but believe their tummy to be ‘fat’ and continue to starve themselves, making the problem worse.

I don’t want to be harsh but I think voluntary self-starvation is an insult to children like this who are dying because they cannot get enough food.

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