Excessive fluid retention is a serious symptom and should be addressed immediately by your healthcare professional. You must treat water retention before it damages your heart.
Check for these symptoms of water retention (as listed in The Waterfall Diet)
1- Do you have trouble losing weight, no matter how hard you try?
2- Press a fingernail firmly into the thumb pad. Does it stay deeply indented for more than a second or two?
3- Press the tip of your finger on the inside of your pimple. Can your finger make a tooth?
4- Do your ankles ever swell?
5- Does your shoe size seem to increase as you age?
6- Do your rings sometimes seem to not fit you?
7- Is your belly often tight and swollen?
8- If you are a woman, do you often suffer from breast tenderness?
9- Does your weight ever fluctuate between several pounds in the space of just 24 hours?
Your problem may very well be water retention.
There are many causes of water retention:
1- Dehydration is the most common cause of water retention. Your body is responding to the emergency of water scarcity. Believe it or not, the best thing you can do early on for water retention is to drink more water. Drink water throughout the day to ensure you have enough water available for all your bodily functions throughout the day. Stop around 5pm so you can sleep.
2- Hormonal problems can also cause fluid retention. This can be easily ruled out IF your doctor examines you. If you suspect fluid retention, INSIST that your hormones be tested.
3- Vitamin and mineral deficiencies are a very common cause of discomfort and chronic diseases. Even if you eat a wide variety of whole foods, you can still suffer from malabsorption. You may have a deficiency and not be aware of it. The seemingly “magical” cure for many chronic foods using specific nutritional supplements has been well documented.
4- Food allergies may be the problem. Seek professional advice for proper testing for problem foods. This cannot be done with blood tests, only by eliminating all possible allergens in your diet and then reintroducing foods one by one, you can find YOUR problem.
5- Many sensitive people do not tolerate chemical foods. Also, eating the same foods all the time is likely to cause an intolerance. When your body can’t tolerate a food you eat, the result is a very uncomfortable gastric upset and eventually bloating and fluid retention. If your “gut” isn’t healthy, it can’t absorb any of the vital nutrients that chewing and swallowing provide. Refined sugar is one of the biggest culprits for the growth of bad bacteria in the gut. You do well to avoid it altogether. Good gut bacteria in the form of probiotics can be helpful, as well as enzymes to help with digestion and bring balance back to the body. You ingest most of the chemicals and stimulants that overload your liver and adrenal glands through your mouth.
6- When you are exposed to chemicals in your living, school, or work environment, you can become increasingly irritated, eventually causing swelling and fluid retention. Cleaners, and even floors, upholstery, etc., can build up and cause real liquid problems for some people.
7- If you do not eat enough calories; your body will retain fluid.
8- If you have lung and/or heart disease and you don’t treat your low oxygen levels, you will see fluid in your ankles when your heart has weakened and is deprived of oxygen. Treating your low oxygen levels will actually remove the water from your ankles. I have seen many times that supplemental oxygen resolves fluid buildup around the ankles.
IF YOU RETAIN A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF FLUID, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ABSORB OXYGEN WHICH WILL CAUSE DAMAGE TO ALL YOUR ORGANS AND WILL WEAKEN YOUR HEART MUSCLE!
Please make swollen ankles a RED FLAG!
If you have water in your ankles, there is a good chance you have water in your lungs.
In fact, water retention needs to be addressed BEFORE it starts to collect in your ankles.
YOU CANNOT BREATHE THROUGH WATER!
Every time your body suffers from an unmet need for oxygen, your body is damaged. You will soon notice problems with your eyesight, short-term memory, and heart muscle strength.
You may have an oxygen deficit that you are not aware of, but you know that you are always tired.
Ask your doctor to check your blood oxygen level with a pulse oximeter if you experience any of the following symptoms:
*water retention (especially feet/ankles)
*extremely tired
*shortness of breath/shortness of breath/dyspnea
*chest tightness
*brain fog/short-term memory loss
*tingling in fingers
*chronic cough
*blue coloration around the lips
(If you wake up at night breathless, TELL YOUR DOCTOR!)
Remember that any blood oxygen saturation level below 92% warrants supplemental oxygen treatment, although insurance companies will not pay until the readings drop to 88%.
Your body requires more oxygen with physical activity!
You should check your oxygen levels DURING normal daily activity.
