If you’re like most women, chances are your
appraisal of your body size sits somewhere
between grudging acceptance and desperate
discontentment. But what if – aside from
last month’s revelations that we’re incapable
of seeing ourselves accurately – your body
size and weight are being falsely elevated
by a factor other than body fat? Most
discussion of water weight concentrates on
sudden, temporary spikes caused by fish and
chip night or PMS, but a less-discussed fact
is that for some women, water retention is
permanent. Imagine a big car-wash sponge
dunked in water, and you’ll appreciate the
implications for both weight and size.
“I’m convinced that many women ‘feel’
fat when really they are either bloated or
retaining fluid,” says Libby Weaver, author of
Rushing Woman’s Syndrome.
Causes of permanent fluid retention
can include stress and anxiety, hormones
and even chronic dehydration, which is a
risk for coffee drinkers and boozehounds
who don’t adequately replace fluid losses
with increased water intake. According
to Nutrition Australia head nutritionist
Aloysa Hourigan, the body responds to
inadequate fluid by hoarding water – which
is why dehydration causes decreased
urine output. A diet high in salt can also
perpetuate subcutaneous water (water
beneath the skin). Inadequate protein
intake can also cause dehydration and
puffiness according to GP Dr Fran Bruce.
“Detox diets that severely limit protein
or require fasting can result in fatigue,
dehydration, light-headedness, headaches,
mood swings and constipation,” Dr Bruce
says. Counterintuitively, colon cleansing
can cause abdominal bloating, she says.
Dietitian Lyndi Polivnick says detox diets
and cleanses can paradoxically causebloating. “Raw foods are a better choice
than trendy juice diets as they provide fibre,
which is the body’s natural cleanser. If you
are going to detox, keep your fluids up – and
avoid products containing laxatives, which
can cause both diarrhoea and rebound
water retention.
So how do you know if your weight is
fat or fluid? A key clue is where you carry
the weight. Fluid retention (medical term
idiopathic oedema) often affects the legs,
feet, abdomen, breasts, face and hands,
including fingers. It often affects the inner
thigh more than the outer thigh and can be
identified by pressing the area and looking
for a residual indent.
Auditing your health for known causes
of fluid retention can also reveal probability
that some of your weight is water. Factors
encouraging fluid retention include anxiety,
hormones and dehydration.Anxiety
The fight or flight response that prepares the body for survival in
the face of threat stimulates production of hormone aldosterone,
which increases sodium levels in the kidneys and instructs them
to retain fluid. Swelling may result in the face, hands, legs, feet,
abdomen and breasts.
WATERSHED MOMENT: Establish a formal de-stress regimen
anchored by yoga or meditation and learn breathing techniques to
temper physiological responses before they cascade.
Diet
“Eating foods high in sodium changes the balance of sodium and
potassium in the body, which affects your kidneys’ ability to filter excess
water from your bloodstream,” says Hourigan. “As a result, your body
retains more fluid.”
WATERSHED MOMENT: Resist adding salt to food and avoid salty foods
such as cheese, soy sauce, processed meats, canned soups or vegetables,
crackers and chips.
Medications
Some medications, such as calcium channel blockers for blood pressure
or steroids for asthma and arthritis, sleeping pills, some contraceptive
pills and some antidepressants, can cause fluid retention in legs.
WATERSHED MOMENT: See your GP for a check-up and ask for a blood
count to check liver and kidney function. Ask whether you need follow-
up investigations such as an electrocardiogram (ECG).
DIURETIC
STRAITS
“People often think they can enjoy
instant fluid loss using extreme
measures,” says sports nutrition expert
Dayne Hudson. “Not only can your
body quickly adapt to those measures,
some of them can carry health risks.”
When water intake is restricted, the
body responds by holding onto water,
Hudson says. Diuretic drugs are similarly
problematic, training the body to hoard
water in case of a watershed moment
according to Hudson.