Do your clothes fit a little tighter than they did yesterday? Do you feel bloated this morning? Do you have any welling of the feet, ankles and hands? When pressed with the fingers does the mark stays for a while? Have you seen a sudden (overnight) weight gain of 2 to 5 pounds? If you answered yes to any of these quesitons, you may be suffering from water retention or edema.
What is excess water weight?
Water retention, is when the body retain excess water causing swelling and tenderness, especially on the extremities and around the abdomen. It also causes a feeling of bloatedness, and is often referred to as as bloating or edema.
What causes water retention?
It is said that water retention can be caused by a number of factors, from normal shifts in body fluid to excess dietary sodium and diseases such as heart or kidney disease. http://www.bodyandfitness.com/Information/Weightloss/retention.htm
Hydration and Dehydration:
The amount of water you drink is going to play a key role in water retention. When you are dehydrated, your body excretes less water, and bloating can set in. For optimum health, we should be drinking a minium of 64 oz of water daily.
Constipation:
Constipation encourages the body to retain fluids. If you don't have frequent bowel movements, you absorb poison from partially digested foods in the intestinal tract. You should also strive to keep your intestines clear and not allow foods to remain long in the process of digestion.
High Sodium intake:
One of the main causes of weight-related water retention can be attributed to sodium intake, particularly from processed foods. In addition, since sodium is present in all foods, a higher intake of food in general also contributes to weight gain from fat stores and subsequent water retention http://www.nativeremedies.com/ailment/water-retention-causes.html
Other factors
Other factores like a reaction to hot weather, gravity, nutritional deficiencies, burns as well as sunburn, side effect of certain drugs, pregnancy, oral contraceptives, the menstrual cycle and menopause are also known causes of body water retention.
How do you know if you are retenting excess water?
A simple observation of the introductary questions, may be clues to possible water retention. However, research shows that the best diagnosis of water retention is determined by a physical examination, the symptoms presented as well as medical history. Various tests such as blood tests, urine tests, liver and kidney function tests, chest x-ray or an electrocardiogram (ECG) may also be performed to determine the cause. http://www.nativeremedies.com/ailment/water-retention-causes.html
What are some of the treatments?
There are some off-the counter remedies that one can take, one example is Diurex Ultra. Diurex Ultra is an over-the-counter drug that (http://alvadirect.com/Detail.aspx?ProductID=75) helps to relieve excess body water…bloat, puffiness, water weight gain and related fatigue. It simple terms it is a a water pill that is aimed at reducing (temporarily) excess water weight.
Does it work?
Having conducted some prelimiary research online, I was not able to find any clinical results, but I was able to find some personal stories from weight loss forums of people who have tried the drug.
In the Yahoo Fitness and Weight Loss Forum, there was a posting of someone stating the following; “Since I started college I put on the freshman 20 weighing in at 123. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but by beeing "small" all of my life, it was. By working out and eating healthy I went back down to 114. Then recently I started taking Diurex Ultra, and im down to 108”(http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090404114747AAhtLFV)
As in response to the above statement, another poster had this to say.. I have the same pills you are talking about …. [my mother] who is a phamacist takes them everyday…(http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090404114747AAhtLFV)
In the weight loss forum, Phentermine.com, user: rangerover, stated the following: “I bought Diurex over the weekend just to see if I was retaining any excess water weight from my cycle. I took 2 tablets Sunday afternoon and I didn't notice any increase in urine frequency. However, I woke this morning to go to the rest room and my urine was BLUE ( http://www.phentermine.com/forum/my-experience-phentermine/85461-diurex-urine-color.html).
Another user by the screen name of manager06 stated the following: I have also had the same thing happen, but found that increasing my water intake took care of that (http://www.phentermine.com/forum/my-experience-phentermine/85461-diurex-urine-color.html).
I do not know first hand if these or any other over-the-counter medication works in the long run. From what I have read from the research conducted, it appears that Duirex like any other Durietic over-the-counter medication is a temporary fix and is not meant to be seen nor taken as a long term weight loss reduction strategy nor tactic.
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