Water Retention and Weight Gain

One of the most disturbing things to deal with is water retention. Weight gain may be a resultant outcome of water retention, if there is excess of it. Weight gain has always been associated with excess accumulation of fat, due to an unhealthy diet and improper exercise. However, at times, it may also happen purely due to excess of water and fluid retention in the body. This leads to symptoms like puffiness of face and limbs, especially in the morning. It can cause a lot of unnecessary discomfort and frustration for a person trying to lose weight fast. So given below are the causes and treatment alternatives for dealing with weight gain due to water retention.

Causes and Treatment

Dehydration
As ironic as it may sound, dehydration is a common cause of water retention. Weight gain that results from this is due to the excess retention of every drop of fluid that is taken in! In simpler words, when we are dehydrated, the body does assumes that it is not getting enough water. Thus, then every drop that we drink is absorbed by the body, leading to the passage of very concentrated urine with resultant fluid retention. Thus, if you are dehydrated, it is best to drink as much water as possible. This will ensure that the body passes normal urine, thus, not causing any fluid retention and resultant weight gain.

Hormonal Problems
Another common cause of water retention is hormonal imbalance in the body. Any kind of hormonal imbalance can lead to excess fluid retention in the body. One common example of this is hypothyroidism. In hypothyroidism, there is deficiency of thyroid hormones. This leads to various symptoms, like lowered basal metabolic rate, water retention, weight gain, increased susceptibility to cold, lethargy, etc. Also, if a person has a problem with hormones that regulate the concentration of urine, then it could lead to the reabsorption of excess water, thus, causing water retention and the passage of very concentrated urine.

Diet
A persons diet also plays a huge role in determining the amount of water retention. Weight gain may be a direct result of a faulty diet. This may especially be seen in cases where a person is regularly exercising and trying to eat right, yet gaining weight and looking all puffy faced in the morning. Besides just eating healthy food, there are many other things that a person needs to keep in mind. We tend to add a lot of salt in our food. Salt acts as a magnet for water and due to osmosis, tends to pull water and thus, leads to water retention in the body. Hence, it is best to cut down on your salt as much as possible. For this you may like to try out some salt free recipes that will help you control your intake of salt. On the contrary, excess of water retention may even be a thiamine deficiency symptom. So, it is best to check what it is in your diet that is leading to water and fluid retention in the body.

Other Causes
There are many other causes of water retention induced weight gain. Sometimes, women who have irregular periods have a higher tendency to retain water in their body, resulting in weight gain. Also, women who are on birth control pills for very long can also end up retaining excess of fluid in the body. One of the fluid retention causes also includes serious systemic diseases, like kidney and heart failure.

This was all about the causes and ways to deal with weight gain due to water retention. There are many ways of decreasing the amount of water retention. Weight gain that is seen despite taking active measures of decreasing the amount of water retention needs to be taken seriously, as it may be a symptom of a serious underlying disease or disorder.