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Are you prone to a problem with 'Water Retention'?
Find your imbalances and create a diet for your Blood and Circulation by taking the
free blood and circulation quiz:
Master Personalized Wellness with these Diet, Lifestyle & Herbs Certification Courses
Water retention, also known as fluid retention or edema, happens when excess fluid builds up in the body's tissues, often in the hands, feet, ankles, legs, or even the face.
You might notice swelling or puffiness in these areas, a feeling of tightness in your skin, or that your clothes, shoes, or rings feel unusually snug. If you often feel swollen, puffy, or unusually full—especially at the end of the day or after sitting or standing for a long time—you might be experiencing water retention.
Pressing gently on the swollen area might leave a temporary indentation, known as "pitting."
You may also feel bloated or heavier than usual, and your weight might fluctuate noticeably over a short period.
What does it mean?
Water retention could imply poor circulation or low kidney function. Poor circulation may be due to thick, sweet Kapha blood, a heart condition, low metabolism, or other factors.
Food is medicine, and well-designed recipes function as gentle herbal formulas.
The recipes below highlight biocharacteristics and ingredients that may support Water Retention
from a Classical Metabolic Theory perspective*.
Because every person is unique, certain recipes may support your body more effectively than others.
Choose according to your constitution.
Suggestions are not strict, reflecting the real world need for variety and balance in diet.
As always, please consult your medical doctor before making any changes to your diet or wellness plan.
Augment your diet with these specially chosen ingredients below which may be useful for 'Water Retention'.
Individual results vary depending on the cause of your imbalance and by constitution.
Please research the ingredients below to find which are most helpful for you, and check with your doctor before making any changes to your health and wellness routine.
We will use this information to better predict food that helps you.
Diuretic
DIURETIC
Herbs that promote urine formation, thereby flushing the kidneys and urinary tract while eliminating any excess water retention. As diuretics reduce water retention, they are often used to reduce blood pressure.
A vasodilator is an herb that widens the blood vessels by the relaxation of smooth muscle cells within the vessel walls, thereby increasing circulation systemically or to a local area.
Strengthens and tones the heart (heart-tonic). Cardiac tonics are used to treat a wide range of heart issues from arrhythmia, to cardiac insufficiency.
Herbs or spices with volatile essential oils that present strong aromas. Aromatic oils shock, refresh and numb tissue, with the end result of relaxing, opening and clearing stagnant fluids in tissues.
The term "bland taste" refers, in Chinese medicine, to food containing few macronutrients, such as cabbage, radish or bok choy. These may be compared to negative calorie foods.
Herbs that promote urine formation, thereby flushing the kidneys and urinary tract while eliminating any excess water retention. As diuretics reduce water retention, they are often used to reduce blood pressure.
A vasodilator is an herb that widens the blood vessels by the relaxation of smooth muscle cells within the vessel walls, thereby increasing circulation systemically or to a local area.
Strengthens and tones the heart (heart-tonic). Cardiac tonics are used to treat a wide range of heart issues from arrhythmia, to cardiac insufficiency.
In Ayurveda, oily refers to anything moistening. More specifically, oily refers to building substances that increases fat, or are themselves fatty. For example, sugar is Oily.
Herbs or spices with volatile essential oils that present strong aromas. Aromatic oils shock, refresh and numb tissue, with the end result of relaxing, opening and clearing stagnant fluids in tissues.
DISCLAIMER: The pathogenesis of each person's condition is unique, and so the diet must be fit to the individual and the unique root causes of the condition in your body.
The information on this page is for educational purposes only and should not be used to treat a medical condition. It is not a substitute for medical care.
Please check with your doctor before making any changes to your health and wellness routine.
Balance Your Body with Diet, Herbs, & Lifestyles Having These Virtues (Biocharacteristics)
Everything you eat has an effect on your body, which Personalized Medicine Systems (Ayurveda & Greek Medicine)
categorize in a simple and easy way, using biocharacteristics.
Biocharacteristics are vital qualities (like cold and hot) that describe the metabolic effect a food or herb has on your body.
Cooling foods like cucumber, decrease metabolism.
Heating foods like chili pepper, stimulate your body and increase metabolism.
For 'Water Retention', consider foods with the following biocharacteristics.
Individual results will vary, based on your body type and the root cause of your imbalance.
BIOCHARACTERISTIC
FOODS TO FAVOR
MATCH WITH YOUR WELLNESS PROFILE
LIQUEFIED
ABOUT LIQUEFIED BIOCHARACTERISTIC
Substances that thin fluids (lower viscosity of blood plasma). These may include blood thinners or mucolytic herbs.
Strengthens and tones the heart (heart-tonic). Cardiac tonics are used to treat a wide range of heart issues from arrhythmia, to cardiac insufficiency.
A vasodilator is an herb that widens the blood vessels by the relaxation of smooth muscle cells within the vessel walls, thereby increasing circulation systemically or to a local area.
Herbs that promote urine formation, thereby flushing the kidneys and urinary tract while eliminating any excess water retention. As diuretics reduce water retention, they are often used to reduce blood pressure.
WATER RETENTION IS IN STAGE OF DISEASE #2 - AFFECTING BLOOD & EMOTIONS
Affecting Blood: Initially, imbalances are localized, often in the digestive tract.
As an imbalance grows, it starts to affect your body systemically, via the blood.
If you have symptoms in this category it means that your imbalances are starting to spread,
have entered the bloodstream, and are now systemic.
Pay particular attention to the biocharacteristics, tastes, and doshas out of balance systemically,
so you know how to strengthen your body as a whole, and reduce physical stress on your organs.
At this stage of imbalance you will begin to experience generalized discomfort, imbalanced emotions,
and may develop sensitivities to temperature.
It may take several weeks of strict adherence to a specific remedial diet to clear blood level imbalances.
Blood cleansing herbs may reduce symptoms.
A several day cleanse may shorten the recovery time.
(See all disease stages on JB)
AVOID DIETS, LIFESTYLES & HERBS THAT AGGRAVATE THESE BIOCHARACTERISTICS
According to Personalized Medicine Systems (Ayurveda and Greek medicine), aggravation of any of these
body types
and biocharacteristics may lead to 'Water Retention'.
Reduce the foods and lifestyle habits that aggravate these qualities (when dystempered).
Click on the biocharacteristic to learn what foods and
lifestyle habits should be reduced.
Symptoms Tell A Story
The first step to healing is learning patterns from your symptoms.
Symptoms are clues that reveal underlying imbalances.
Symptoms show you where your body is weakened.
Ultimately, all disease has a root in tissues too weak to defend itself.
Ayurveda describes these patterns of weakness using doshas & biocharacteristics.
If you notice a biocharacteristic or dosha appears next to many of your symptoms,
it helps you establish a pattern that may be systemic.
Are you prone to a problem with 'Water Retention'?
Find your imbalances and create a diet for your Blood and Circulation by taking the
free blood and circulation quiz:
The following symptoms & habits may be related to 'Water Retention'.
See your quiz results for a computerized assessment of your body type.
Please click on the symptoms below to learn more about them.
Risk Factor: 30% more often Complication: +1.4 times as often
Please login or create a free account to see statistics filtered on Water Retention and Stress overeater.
Biocharacteristics of 10,907 People Reporting Water Retention
On average the biocharacteristics
of people reporting Water Retention were more aggravated than 54% of other symptoms.
From the 10,907 people who reported Water Retention
average deviation in biocharacteristic levels were the following:
Please login or create a free account to see statistics filtered on Water Retention and Dry.
4.8% avg client level
16.6% (1,811) of cases
9,009 have Dry constitution
Risk Factors of Water Retention
Below you will see general risk factors as well as the greatest risk factors, i.e. those who were also more likely to report Water Retention.
Overall, 28.50% of people surveyed reported Water Retention.
Please login or create a free account to see statistics filtered on Water Retention and Unable to exercise due to Injury, disease, breathlessness, etc.
Please login or create a free account to see statistics filtered on Water Retention and Difficulty finding clothes that fit.
4103 cases with both
+1.4 times more likely
38% of cases
27.6% (9,502 cases)
DISCOVER YOUR BODY WITH YOUR FREE INDIVIDUALIZED BODY MAP
Find ideal foods, herbs and lifestyle tips.
See your imbalances, and locate intervention points.
Your body map contains a complete analysis of your Ayurvedic imbalances, organ by organ.
Give your chart to your functional medical doctor or any alternative health practitioner.
Ayurveda strengthens the body while opposing disorders. It takes a holistic,
systemic approach that looks at the whole body. Ayurveda
shows how to interpret signs and symptoms of imbalance, and how to address them
using diet, lifestyle adjustments, and herbs. It shows a person how to optimize their health on a continual basis. You can't
take the doctor home with you, but you can take Ayurveda home with you.
Ayurveda is the most advanced and easy to use home system for self healing.
HOW DOES AYURVEDA WORK?
Ayurveda starts by identifying your body type,
which identifies certain tendencies in your body to get sick (as well as identifying your strengths).
It uses body type to determine the likely root causes of your disorders.
Next, Ayurveda analyzes the nature of your disorder.
It fits all your signs and symptoms into a pattern, expressed as a combination of biocharacteristics (gunas).
For example, you may have a heat disorder, a cold disorder, or an oily disorder, etc.
This simple categorical approach shows you how to correct systemic imbalances and strengthen your body as a whole.
On Joyful Belly, we've created an extensive categorization of food so you can easily match food to your imbalanced biocharacteristics.
By eating an optimal diet that balances your biocharacteristics, your whole body is strengthened
and the conditions that created the disorder are removed. Once the root causes of the disease
are removed, the disease lessens in strength or disappears altogether. Additional remedies -
such as herbs and lifestyle practices - focused on the specific disorder, can greatly enhance
your healing.
GET STARTED
To get started on your Ayurvedic journey, we first recommend that your find your body
type by taking our free quiz. In Ayurveda, every solution is based on your unique body type, so
by taking this quiz, you’ll get the best results.
5 WAYS TO HEAL YOUR BODY WITH AYURVEDA - FREE REPORT!
New to Ayurveda? Not sure how Ayurveda can help you?
This free report shows you 5 simple ways you can heal your body with Ayurveda.
It shows you simple, practical ways manage your health.
John Immel, the founder of Joyful Belly, offers
professional clinical training
in personalized diet, lifestyle and herbs through Classical Metabolic Theory (Ayurveda & Greek Medicine).
His approach is clinical, yet exudes an ease which many find enjoyable and insightful.
John's hobbies & specialties include advanced digestive disorders,
classical Christian philosophy for mental wellness, languages (French, Arabic, Bengali), cooking & botany.
He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Harvard University.
John, his wife Natalie, and their 8 kids live in Asheville, NC.
Founder of Joyful Belly Ayurveda, John Immel, answers the question ‘What is Ayurveda?’
Comments & Questions
How does 'water retention' affect your quality of life?
What aggravates it? What has helped you? Is there something else you'd like to know about 'water retention'?
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* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
The information and products on this website are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any
disease.
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Ayurvedic Perspective on Water Retention
Related Symptoms
Stage of Imbalance (Samprapti)
Live Report: Biocharacteristics
Diet Remedies by Dosha, Biocharacteristics, Action, etc.
Live Report: Risk Factors
Herb Remedies by Dosha, Guna, Action, etc.
Live Report: Complications
Biocharacteristics & Herb Actions to Favor
Comments and reviews
Biocharacteristics to Avoid
