Water retention and sodium

johnson0112
johnson0112 Posts: 33 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I'm pretty bloated. I was wondering, do I need to lower sodium to get rid of it? Or if I just eat healthy and drink lot of water will that work? Basically is sodium the main culprit?

Replies

  • flutatious1
    flutatious1 Posts: 120 Member
    I have a lot of fluid on my legs....especially since having my first child one year ago. Before I was pregnant, I still had fluid in my legs. when I started watching my salt intake, it went way down, almost disappeared. Monitor your Salt and up the water - I think you'll see a change...especially if you're exercising. I've been to the Dr for this problem - first they did an Ultrasound to rule out a blood clot. I was fine. He prescribed losing weight and limiting salt intake. He said if that didn't work, we would explore a water pill.
  • wamydia
    wamydia Posts: 259 Member
    I am extremely sensitive to water retention and all of my research has led me to be careful about three things -- I limit my sodium intake (I aim for less than 1500mg/ day and I think the American Heart Association recommends that you aim for about 1000mg for every 1000 calories that you consume per day), I make sure I drink a lot of water, and I make sure that I eat a lot of high potassium foods like bananas, oranges, peanuts and tree nuts, tomatoes, potatoes with the skin on, and cereals with lots of potassium on the label. I also find that regular exercise helps to control the water. If you are trying all of this and you are still having a major water retention problem, you should probably see a doctor to make sure that there is nothing medically wrong.

    What I've learned is that it is really important to not overdo the sodium, but it's equally important to make sure you are maintaining a good balance of electrolytes overall. So even if you drink a ton of water and flush all of the excess sodium out, you are also losing potassium. And low potassium can cause you to retain water. Ditto for a hard workout -- you'll sweat out a lot of salt, but you'll also sweat out everything else your body needs. This is the reason that so many people drink sports drinks after a hard workout.

    I hope this helps!

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