Foods that Reduce Water Retention

Do you often feel tightness around your belly? An abdomen that is full or visibly swollen? It's nothing but water retention or abdominal bloating, wherein, a belly feels full and tight as a result of constipation, overeating, or simply, weight gain. It's a common problem, and is frequent in occurrence. Moreover, it goes away with just a little effort, one of which, we're going to be dealing with here - consumption of foods that aid in reducing the retention of water in body. Now, water retention happens when water that is rich in oxygen and vitamins passes through the blood vessels and nourishes the cells. People who spend a lot of time inactive or immobile experience water retention. Moreover, many women experience sudden weight gain during menstruation, when hormonal changes in the menstrual cycle are a frequent occurrence. While the causes of water retention are many, for the purpose of this article, we will discuss the various foods that stop water retention in the body, and reduce excessive bloating. The following section enlists all food items that help in reducing water retention, and help you get rid of the excess water that makes you look overweight.

Magic Foods that Reduce Water Retention

Obviously, there are a number of foods that work fine for just about any and every ailment you talk about. One of them is fruits and vegetables. Whether you are suffering from weakness, have high fever, having your periods, or feeling nauseated, fruits and vegetables work wonders for your health. Certainly, when it comes to water retention, fruits and veggies, along with certain vitamins and minerals can help you reduce bloating at a significant rate, since, all of them are of a diuretic nature. However, to know what to eat and what to avoid, the following three sub-sections make for an interesting read. Take a look.

Increase Your Intake of Citrus Fruits and Watery Vegetables
While fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of water, they are extremely helpful in providing a diuretic effect to the body, thereby, increasing the fluid-leveling capacity of the body. This increases the body's capability to urinate, and thus, reduces water retention. To provide maximum hydration, fruits and vegetable that are rich in water content are the most sought after. For example, watermelon, lemons, and citrus fruits such as oranges and sweet lime work in favor of reducing bloating, whereas, vegetables like tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers provide relief from excessive bloating. Remember, whichever fruits or vegetables you pick, make sure that they have high water content. In a nutshell, following is a list of the fruits and veggies that work against water retention:

Watermelon Orange Lemon Pineapple Raspberry Papaya Strawberry

Sweet Lime Onion Broccoli Tomatoes Olive Turnip Greens Lettuce

Reduce Water Retention with Potassium
Sodium or salt is one of the key factors for the body to bloat. Hence, foods that are rich in potassium (K) are extremely beneficial in balancing the necessary amount of sodium and eliminating the excess fluids out of the body. Against that bloated belly, you could consume lots of spinach, avocados, raw bananas, and dried apricots. These foods maintain the pH levels of the body, and not only do they reduce water retention, they also take care of the increasing body pressure, regulate the nervous system and other adrenal functions. For the simple reason that the more sodium intake you have, the more your body bloats, foods rich in potassium work wonders against water retention. For a list of potassium-rich foods you can consume, take a look at the following:

Apricots Avocados Bananas Cantaloupe Kiwi Fruit Lima Beans Nectarine

Spinach Sweet Potatoes Raisins Pears Prunes Skim Milk Pumpkin

Other Foods that Work
Along with fruits, vegetables, and potassium-rich foods, there are a few herbs that reduce water retention, such as, asparagus that is extremely effective against bloating. On the other hand, uva ursi is a herb that works significantly on reducing water retention, the reason being its diuretic nature that reduces bloat. In addition, you could drink coconut juice which works much more efficiently in comparison to many other fluids. Last but not the least, drinking at least 8 - 10 glasses of water everyday flushes all toxins from the body, along with excess sodium and bloat. Following is a list of foods that help reduce water retention in the body:

Asparagus Parsley Dandelion Celery Horse Chestnut Fennel Seed Hawthorn Butcher's Broom

Rosemary Corn Silk Cleavers Uva Ursi Dong Quai Meadowsweet Gingko Peppermint

The side effects of water retention in body can embarrass you, and leave you wondering, just how to get rid of the bloat that has increased your waist size so much that it's too noticeable now! Eating the foods mentioned in this article in little amounts after every few hours will help you reduce water retention considerably, and make you feel good with just a little snacking up.