How to not retain water

Do you drink enough water?  How much is enough?  What happens when you don’t get enough?  I’ll tell you how to not retain water.

Why do people retain water?

It may sound counterintuitive, but the reason water retention (officially called edema) happens is because you aren’t drinking enough.  When the body doesn’t get enough water, it will keep / hold onto / retain what it has thinking ‘if I’m not getting enough, I need to hold onto what I do have’.

This can cause swollen ankles and puffiness.  The puffiness can even show under your eyes.  And you won’t feel well.  You may start feeling stiff, joints will hurt, and you won’t look healthy.

How much water is enough?

Maybe you don’t know how much water is enough to drink or maybe you don’t like the taste of water, so you know you don’t drink enough.  The general rule of thumb is 8 (8 ounce) glasses per day.  This is just one way of how to not retain water.

According to the Mayo Clinic, it’s a good goal but you may need more.  It will depend on how much you’re sweating – such as if you’re exercising a lot – and other factors.

A good gauge is to look at how dark your urine is.  If your pee is dark yellow, you’re dehydrated, and you need to drink more water.  If it’s a pale yellow, you’re probably hydrated enough; however, if it’s almost clear, you’ve drank too much water.  So, obviously there’s a balance.  What you don’t want to do is drink all 8 glasses of water at one time (or a bunch at one time).  You need to space it out during the day.  This is another way of how not to retain water.

A note about salt

Do you consume a lot of salt / sodium?  This can take the form of salt you add to your food.  Do you taste your food before you salt it?  If not, you should.

You may need to cut back and if your taste buds have adapted to your cooking, you may have to scale back – especially if you have dark urine or you’re puffy.  Maybe you consume a lot of processed foods like frozen foods or fast food.  If this is the case, you need to have a talk with yourself!  This is another good way of how not to retain water.

Changes need to be made NOW!  For your health!  And, for your skin!  If you want to look younger, feel better and stay healthy, it’s very important.  This is how to not retain water.  Stop the inflammation in your body today.

How not to retain water

So, are you still wondering how not to retain water?  As long as you:

• drink enough water that your urine is a nice yellow – not dark or too clear
• are drinking water after sweating
• are NOT consuming too much salt by either adding it to your food or constantly eating processed foods

This is how not to retain water.  It will make you look and feel healthier.