28 Jan Slash the salt to ease water retention

Are you a fan of savoury treats like crisps, pasta sauce and sliced ham? The bad news is that these are all foods that are high in salt and likely to cause water retention or oedema, which can be uncomfortable or even painful. 

A high level of salt in your diet can also cause high blood pressure (hypertension) which increases the likelihood of developing kidney problems, having a heart attack, or a stroke 

Some people are more prone to experience bouts of bloating and puffiness than others. Many women experience abdominal bloating before their periods as a result of hormonal fluctuations. Salt encourages the body to hold water in its cells, which makes bloating and puffiness caused by water retention worse.

However, a healthy lifestyle – including exercise and herbal water retention tablets – can help limit the negative impact water retention has on your body. Maintaining a low-salt diet is part of a healthy lifestyle; you can make a few simple changes to your diet today to reduce your salt intake without sacrificing the taste.

Cut salt from your diet to ease water retention

• Swap-out snacks such as salted popcorn, salted crisps and nuts for the unsalted varieties. Add some flavour with a homemade avocado dip.
• Have a yogurt and some fresh fruit instead of processed cakes and pastries which often contain ‘hidden salt’.
• Make your own soups at home – that way you can decide how much salt to add. Ready-made soups tend to be high in salt.
• Opt for meat that hasn’t been processed e.g., choose a chicken breast over chicken nuggets.
• Choose porridge oats over breakfast cereal. As well as being low in salt it’s a food low on the Glycemic Index (GI) and keeps you fuller for longer.

What else can you do to prevent water retention?

Drink plenty of water – Although it sounds counterintuitive (surely if there’s too much water in your body, you don’t want to drink anymore?), drinking more water actually helps your body restore its natural water balance.

Get active! – Go for a walk, take a yoga class, play some tennis – do something you enjoy to improve your circulation.

Take herbal water retention tablets – Take a THR registered herbal water retention tablet such as HRI Water Balance. It is formulated with traditionally used herbs Dandelion, Buchu Leaf and Uva Ursi that can help your body expel the additional fluid it is storing.

Dandelion root and leaf are natural diuretics and encourage the body to excrete excess fluid.

Buchu Leaf has diuretic and anti-inflammatory properties, reducing the swelling caused by excess fluid.

Uva-Ursi has astringent properties and reduces inflammation.

A healthy lifestyle is the most effective tool to prevent fluid retention, so try cutting salt from your diet to see if this helps. 

If you are interested in finding out news and information about a natural approach to supporting your health, beauty and wellbeing, why not follow HRI Herbal on Facebook @HRIHerbal?