Water retention
Nothing can annoy more or can be more uncomfortable for a woman than the monthly water retention that she is obliged to suffer. Water retention is the most common, natural and universal premenstrual symptom, which has as immediate consequence: the need –to-unbutton-your-pants. Yes, this is inevitable. Abdominal bloating, caused by water retention is common and it is not the sole symptom. It is just one of over 200 symptoms that have been associated with a woman’s period.
Premenstrual water retention is that swelled, very heavy, full feeling that women have a couple of days before her monthly menstrual cycle begins and vanishes after her period starts. For almost all women in the world, water retention before menstruation is only a monthly bother, but in specific cases, it can be tough and interfere in her daily tasks.
Fortunately, instead of spending the whole week in your “fat pants”, nowadays things have changed. Bloated bellies receive good medications and natural remedies to ease their hard time.
Natural diuretics are good partners of women nowadays. Some dietary supplements and various herbs have a “diuretic effect” in order to relieve water retention by making women urinate more. This water retention has various causes, some of them really serious so always in these cases doctors should be asked and self-treatments should be avoided. The best known natural diuretics nowadays are: dandelion, ginger and juniper. But it’s still advisable to take conventional medical treatments prescribed by the doctor since natural diuretics have only a slight, short, modest diuretic effect. You have to take into account that many diuretics decrease potassium in the blood and also keep in mind that dietary supplements may also produce other reactions in your body, as for example, awful allergies.
Why water retention happens is still unclear but what it is clear for women is that other common signs and symptoms appear during this part of the month including fatigue, headaches, irritability, crying spells, breast bloating, typically between 25 and 35 years old. As a refresher on how a menstrual cycle presents itself, we have to consider that the average menstrual cycle in a woman lasts approximately 28 days, being day one the first day of your period. On day 28 the whole cycle starts over again. While this cycle works, chemical changes (serotonin among others) in the woman´s brain interact with her hormonal changes and produce what is known as PMS symptoms. No ingredient can be worst for a woman during this time than stress or any minor problem since she will tend to worsen it a thousand times.
Water retention may also not be related to your menstrual cycle, but to other causes of abdominal pain, irritable bowel syndrome, celiac disease or other gastrointestinal problems.
And now, the best part: Wear your favorite clothes, jeans, etc all month long and put away those awful fat pants back in your closet. Lifestyle changes can minimize this “tragedy” and here are some “tricks”:
First of all, it has been proved that women that during PMS exercise report fewer symptoms. Secondly, avoid sodium and put away your saltshaker and last but not least, try smaller meals.
