What Causes Puffiness And Water Retention? Let’s Find out!

Water retention, also referred to as edema, leads to swelling in various body parts. It can occur in the legs, ankles, feet, face, and hands, causing puffiness. This condition begins from an accumulation of fluids in the body tissues. The human body consists of approximately 50 to 60% water. When the balance of hydration in your body is disrupted, it tends to retain that water. Symptoms of water retention are changes in weight, swelling in feet, ankles or legs and bloating in the lower abdomen.

Causes of puffiness

Sometimes Puffiness may be due to a medical condition but most of the time the reasons are different. The causes include:

• Sitting or standing for a long time: Sitting in long office hours becomes a cause of water retention in our legs which keeps blood down.
• Higher intake of sodium: consuming too much sodium may also lead to puffiness in the body.
• Few medications: Medications such as hormonal birth control pills, BP medicines, chemotherapy treatment and certain pain killers cause puffiness and water retention in our body.
• Heart failure: When a patient’s heart is unable to pump blood to the body, it results in water retention.
• Pregnancy: As pregnancy leads to gain in weight, it causes legs and feet to retain water in them, resulting in puffiness if you do not keep yourself active!

How to get rid of it?

There are certain remedies that can help you combat water retention issues. Bringing a change in our lifestyle can help us reduce the puffiness if it is not caused by a serious medical condition.

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1. Low intake of salt: Sodium intake should not be more than 2300 mg per day. This can stay within the limits if we avoid processed foods.
2. Intake of potassium and magnesium-rich foods: Such foods should be added in diet that contain lots of potassium and magnesium as it will help maintain the level of sodium. Potassium and magnesium rich foods include avocados, bananas, and green vegetables like spinach and tomatoes.
3. Take Vitamin B6: vitamin B6 helps to reduce water retention. This can be taken in the form of supplements or foods such as eggs, milk, carrots, avocados and fish also contain Vitamin B6.
4. Add Protein to diet: Protein must be included in our diet as it also helps to get rid of water retention in our body
5.  Feet must be elevated: Keeping your feet elevated keeps the direction of water upward and does not cause swelling in your legs and feet.