How To Lose Water Weight Fast 2023: Safe & Effective Ways

Approximately 60 percent of the human body consists of water, which demonstrates how critically the body needs lots of water to function. And staying hydrated is crucial for many body operations, including easing your joints, maintaining your body temperature, and getting rid of waste through urination, sweat, poop, etc. But why do we still need to lose some water weight?

A few actions can cause us to retain a little extra water. Due to this, a person’s total body weight may fluctuate by a few pounds in only a day, irrespective of personal habits. It can be frustrating when you’re monitoring calories and glimpsing at the rise and fall of the weight scale, making it challenging to track your progress.

8 Best Tips On How To Lose Water Weight Fast

Are there any ways to lose the possibility of retaining water? Read on to find out.

Reduce Sodium (Salt) Intake

Too much sodium (or salt) intake can increase water retention rapidly. Sodium (salt) is a typical human body electrolyte that greatly influences hydration levels. The body must maintain a balanced sodium-to-water ratio to function effectively, but consumption of too much salt increases water weight.

Although table salt is very high in sodium, 75% of the sodium intake people consume is actually hidden in processed foods, which is almost anything that’s packaged. We have them as instant noodles, cheese, soup mixes, pasta sauce, frozen meals, and savory snacks. Salt is used to preserve them and increase their shelf life. 

Natural foods, such as vegetables, seeds, and nuts, are very low in sodium levels. The simplest solution a person can use to lose water weight naturally is to replace high-sodium foods with low-sodium ones to get rid of excess water weight.

Drink More Water

While counterintuitive, drinking water can reduce water weight. The proper operation of the kidneys needs proper hydration, letting excess water and sodium be flushed out of the system. But when your body becomes dehydrated, it holds on to extra water to compensate for the lack of incoming water intake in case you do not reload your fluids quickly so that water levels do not drop too low.

Reduce Carbohydrate Intake

When a person ingests carbohydrates, the energy not used gets reserved in the form of glycogen molecules. Each gram of glycogen comprises 3 grams of water. So when you eat a low-carb diet, the body uses the stored glycogen, decreasing water weight. Everyday meals like rice, and pasta are common forms of carbohydrates. 

To lessen the buildup of water weight, the finest action is to alternate daily carbohydrate-rich meals with protein-rich foods like eggs, soy products, and lean meats.

Supplements

Vitamin^[1] B-6 and magnesium^[2] oxide can be effective natural remedies for fluid retention. These supplements work with the kidneys to help the body flush extra water and sodium from the system. They are also very effective at alleviating the signs of premenstrual syndrome or PMS, including water retention. They can also reduce abdominal bloating and swelling in the legs.

Exercise

Exercise burns off glycogen energy, and this reduces water. According to research on exercise and fluid replacement, the average fluid loss during one hour of exercise varies between 16–64 ounces (0.5–2 liters), depending on factors such as temperature and attire. Any physical activity that makes the body sweat, causes excess water weight to drop quickly. 

That’s why drinking adequate water after the workout is vital to restore lost fluids and prevent dehydration. During exercise, your body shifts a lot of water into the muscles. This can help reduce water outside of the cell and decrease the appearance that people possess with water weight. It’s not unusual to lose a small amount of body weight from sweating during exercise.

Water Pills

Water pills can administer mild fluid retention, as specified by a healthcare provider. It was found that water pills work as diuretics, meaning they make a person urinate more. They stimulate the kidneys, expelling extra salt and water through urine. And urination allows the body to remove extra sodium and water.

Sleep Better

Sleep helps to regulate your hydration. It can make you unduly thirsty and direct you to overhydration. Overhydration can drive your body to store more water. It can also increase work for your kidneys, which may stop functioning properly, leading to future water retention problems. According to a study,^[3] antidiuretic hormone levels are elevated due to an increase in the stress hormone – cortisol. Antidiuretic hormones usually retain more bodily fluid.

But when you learn to take less stress and relax, you can control your cortisol levels and diuretic hormones. The sympathetic renal nerves in the kidneys, which control salt and fluid balance, may be affected by sleep. Sleeping well may also assist your body in regulating hydration levels and reducing water retention. 

Avoid Sitting For Long Periods

Being inactive can stop your body’s fluids from efficiently distributing. This eventually gives way for water to build up within the body’s tissue and cause your limbs to swell. The best action would be to make a move. A stroll across the neighborhood is not so much, as long as you give out a little sweat.

What Is Water Weight?

Exactly how much water your body contains relies mostly on your body composition, sex, and age, but what you eat, in particular, can drive you to retain a few extra pounds of water. This extra water being held in the body (besides 50 to 60% of total body weight) is water weight – the water in your body above the body’s natural capacity. It is a state where the body retains fluid that the kidneys would otherwise release from the body. 

Mostly harmless and common, water weight, also called edema, is rarely a concern. However, it may be discomforting and cause unwanted bloating or puffiness in fingers, wrists, abdomen, legs, ankles, and stomach. Your diet, lifestyle, or body’s response to changing environment, could all be the possible reasons you feel puffier than usual. But other times, water retention may imply an underlying illness.

Why Do People Typically Gain Water Weight?

This happens because the amount of water weight your body stores can vary a lot, but the average person carries one to five pounds. No single factor can lead to water retention in the body. There are many different things done daily without knowing that can make a person gain excess water weight. For instance, too much salt or carb consumption, menstrual hormones, dehydration, etc., may force your body to hold the water.

Causes Of Water Weight

Water retention is influenced by multiple factors, including the following items:

Salty and Carbohydrate-Heavy Foods

It is known that daily sodium content above 3000 mg leads to water retention. If your diet is especially high in sodium, your body will try holding on to more water to balance your intake. But note that a diet high in sodium does not only mean heavily salty foods but also consuming lots of packaged or highly processed meals. 

Menstruation

In women, natural hormone variations can cause experiences in hormonal shifts throughout the month that can make water weight go up and down. Many feel most bloated right when their period hits as water retention tends to peak on day 1^[4] before subsiding for that cycle. A few days before the start of menstruation, progesterone levels increase which leads to a rise in aldosterone.

Pregnancy

There tends to be more water weight gain during pregnancy, particularly when the due date gets near. The body stores more water during pregnancy, which can cause swelling in the lower limbs, especially after prolonged standing. With pregnancy, you have a big belly, so the pressure causes the fluid to go out into the tissues and have trouble getting back into the vessels. 

Hormonal Birth Control

Like the connection between water retention and pregnancy and menstruation, hormonal birth control can also cause water weight. Both estrogen and progestin in birth control pills can be culprits. Typically, there is no outrageous water weight gain, and if there is, it only stays for a little while. 

Your Cortisol Levels

Cortisol is best known as a “stress hormone,” although it’s much more than that. It stabilizes high blood pressure levels, balances metabolism, and reduces inflammation. Here, water retention can be driven if cortisol levels rise, which is rarely an occurrence.

Travel

Sitting for long periods on cross-country flights or road trips can cause water retention as your muscles would contract literally from sitting for too long. Therefore, your feet and legs may swell in response as the excess fluid pools there. In addition, oxygen level, temperature, low cabin pressure, and dry air circulating in the airplane hinder blood circulation and cause dehydration. These factors affect the body’s normal functions, compelling it to retain water.

Certain Medications

Water retention is a side effect of many medications like anti-inflammatories and some oral contraceptives. Meds affecting kidney function may cause water retention, including over-the-counter pain relievers (such as aspirin and ibuprofen). 

Poor Circulation

As we age, our circulatory systems become weaker, especially due to more serious medical conditions, like heart failure. The valves in the veins of our legs, which should maintain blood flow upwards to the heart, collapse a little as we age. So the blood flows in the lower extremities and drives extra fluid retention.

Risk Factors

Anyone can encounter fluid retention, but some risk factors^[5] raise the chances of it happening. These include:

• Unhealthy eating habits
• An inactive lifestyle
• Kidney, liver, or heart conditions
• Corticosteroids
• Pregnancy
• Contraceptive pills
• Certain antidepressants
• Obesity

How Long Does It Take To Lose Water Weight?

It takes approximately two days to lose one to three pounds of water weight. However, the specific timing and how much water weight can you lose depend on a person’s food preferences and activity levels. When people change their diet and stay highly active all day, water weight sheds quickly. But, if your water weight is due to a chronic health condition, usually there is a need to address the health issue before losing the excess water weight may be possible.

Fast Facts On Water Weight

• The buildup of water in the body can induce puffiness and bloating, particularly in the arms and legs.
• Many fresh fruits and vegetables, like spinach and watermelon, contain basically all of their weight in water. Hence, the foods and beverages a person consumes every day strongly affect one’s water weight. 
• Water levels can make a person’s weight fluctuate by 2-4 pounds in just one day.
• More often, water weight is transient and goes away on its own or with some simple lifestyle changes. It may be a symptom of heart or kidney disease when intense.
• In women, changing menstrual cycles and hormones impact water weight.

Prevention

To prevent water retention:

• Drink More Water
• Reduce Carbohydrates
• Exercise Regularly
• Eat Hydrating Foods
• Decrease Stress
• Try Supplements or Water Pills
• Improve Your Sleep
• Avoid Super Salty and Sugary Foods
• Take Electrolytes

When To See A Doctor

Water weight is infrequently a cause for medical concern, although, in some cases, it can be a symptom of a more severe underlying condition. Even for a not-so-severe case of water retention, the most suitable move is to consult a doctor for any worry about any observed symptoms. And the symptoms to look out for:

• The body and limbs are frequently swollen.
• Water retention feels severe, painful, or out of the blue.
• Skin that dimples when pressed (also called pitted edema).
• Skin that appears tight.
• Any shortness of breath or coughing, especially when lying down, could signal heart failure or fluid in your lungs. Seek medical attention as soon as this occurs.

Frequently Asked Questions