Dietitians Share Their Top Tips for Losing Water Weight Safely and Quickly
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If you’re experiencing bloating and sudden weight gain despite meeting your nutrition and exercise goals, you may be retaining water. Though following a weight loss diet and sticking to the perfect workout plan for you can go a long way toward reaching your goals, if you’re dealing with fluid retention, figuring out how to lose water weight can help get you feeling back on track.
The truth is that your weight fluctuates day to day, so those pesky pounds could be a sign that you consumed too much salt one day, or your diet was carb-heavy another day. Visiting the drive-thru often or eating too many processed foods are other reasons you might be taking on water weight.
Meet the experts: Keri Gans, R.D., author of The Small Change Diet; Jessica Cording, M.S., R.D., author of The Little Book of Game-Changers: 50 Healthy Habits For Managing Stress & Anxiety; Bonnie Taub-Dix, R.D., creator of BetterThanDieting.com; Amy Shapiro, R.D., founder of Real Nutrition in New York City
That said, there are steps you can take to lose water weight. We spoke to four dietitians about what water weight is, plus the easiest and safest ways to shed the extra H2O.
What is water weight?
Your body is made up of 55 to 60% water. “Any water in excess of that is considered water weight,” says nutritionist Keri Gans, R.D., author of The Small Change Diet.
Some water weight is normal, says Jessica Cording, M.S., R.D., author of The Little Book of Game-Changers: 50 Healthy Habits For Managing Stress & Anxiety. But, when you gain it in excess, it can translate to a higher number on the scale, she says.
How to lose water weight
There are a few possible ways to lose water weight. Those include:
Slash the sodium
“Salt acts like a magnet to water in your body, hence the water retention. Other foods may make you feel bloated—but don’t confuse the two sensations. Bran products, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and more cause that full feeling,” says Bonnie Taub-Dix, R.D., creator of BetterThanDieting.com and author of Read It Before You Eat It: Taking You From Label to Table.
Even if you think you’re well under the daily sodium recommendation of 2,300 milligrams per day, you might be underestimating. In contrast, the body needs 200 milligrams of sodium to function. “Salt is hidden in so many things, especially at restaurants because it’s a tremendous flavor boost for very little money,” Taub-Dix adds. In fact, more than 70 percent of dietary sodium is found in restaurant dishes, fast foods, and packaged snacks.
Some people are also more salt-sensitive than others. So how do you know? Taub-Dix recommends taking a look at your fingers about an hour after eating salty foods. Are your rings leaving indentation or do they feel slightly inflamed? If you notice swelling in your hands, it might be a sign that you’re salt-sensitive.
How to reduce salt intake
Avoid using the salt shaker
Limit processed snacks, like potato chips and crackers
Rinse canned beans under water
Dilute salad dressings with balsamic vinegar
Consider cutting back on carbs
Just like salt, “carbohydrates can cause water retention. When you consume carbs and don’t use them for fuel right away, your body converts them to glycogen. This is stored in the muscles for energy,” Amy Shapiro, R.D., founder of Real Nutrition in New York City, explains.
Approximately 1% of your muscle mass is straight glycogen, while eight percent of your liver’s weight is glycogen. For every gram of glycogen stored in those areas, you gain about 2.7 grams of water along with it. To help you practice better carb portion control, consider carb cycling, a hybrid of high- and low-carb dieting. The idea is to eat fewer carbs during recovery or rest days and increase your carb intake for days when you’re doing a tough workout. This way of eating helps promote muscle growth and fat loss.
How to cut down on carbs at every meal
Breakfast: Spoon yogurt instead of cereal
Lunch: Try an open-faced sandwich
Snack: Enjoy veggie sticks with hummus
Dinner: Trade noodles for zoodles
Drink more water
It may sound counterintuitive, but when you consume too much salt, your cells drink up—and hold on to—every last ounce of water they can. Their thirst tricks your body into thinking it’s not thirsty (even when it’s actually parched). So if you think you may have overindulged or had a high-sodium meal, pour more H2O into that glass.
Shapiro adds even more evidence to the pro-water campaign: “If you don’t drink enough water, the body holds on to water to prevent severe dehydration.”
A study in the journal Obesity found that drinking 500 milliliters, or 17 ounces, of water before a meal tricks your body into losing more weight naturally.
Consider supplements
“So many people get discouraged by the scale, but that’s a measure of many things happening in the body, not just weight. Especially for young to middle-aged women, you might feel puffy before or during your period,” Taub-Dix says.
A magnesium supplement can help reduce the impact of the hormone-induced puffiness, Shapiro says. A Journal of Women’s Health study suggests that a 200-milligram magnesium supplement during menstruation can help lessen swelling, stomach bloat, and weight gain.
Additional supplements to consider are vitamin B6 and calcium, which “may help with fluid retention by working with our kidneys to remove excess sodium and water from our bodies,” Gans explains. But as always, consult your healthcare provider before adding a supplement to your routine, as some may not work with certain medications you may already be taking.
Add more potassium to your diet
Think of potassium as the yin to sodium’s yang. Research in the American Journal of Kidney Disease links higher dietary potassium with less sodium in the kidneys, thus, reducing water retention and blood pressure.
Intake recommendations are 4.7 grams of potassium per day, but the average American woman only scores half of that (2.4 grams), according to a dietary reference intake report. Reach your daily quota with these delicious foods that have more potassium than a banana.
Take a walk
Beyond burning a few calories (about 100 calories in 20 minutes for a 150-pound person), adding steps to your schedule can coax your cells into shedding water.
“Avoid sitting or standing in one place for too long because this can cause your tissues to hold and retain water,” Shapiro says. Conquer desk drain by setting a reminder to walk for at least five minute every hour.
Hit the gym
You’ll notice even more water weight loss if you crank up the intensity. Not only will you burn off more of that glycogen, you’ll also trigger the lymph nodes into action.
“Moderate to vigorous exercise stimulates the flow of blood and lymphatic fluids that help remove water from the extremities,” Shapiro says. Just be sure to hydrate throughout your workout to help replenish electrolytes.
Try caffeine
Caffeine intake in the form of coffee has been proven to cause an “acute diuretic effect,” (make you urinate) one study found. Though some may recommend water pills, a more holistic (and safe!) approach that has a similar effect (read: diuretic), is caffeine. But this could lead to dehydration, so be sure to listen to your body.
Why do people typically gain water weight?
“Common causes for water weight include excess intake of high-sodium foods, hormones related to menstruation, inactivity for long periods, hot weather, and some medications such as anti-hypertensives, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories, and corticosteroids,” Gans explains. Additional causes, according to the Mayo Clinic, include:
Being pregnant
Taking estrogens or certain diabetes medications called thiazolidinediones
Having congestive heart failure
Having cirrhosis
Having kidney disease or kidney damage
Having a severe, long-term protein deficiency
“In all these situations, your body is trying to hold onto its water supply and fluid retention is created,” Gans says.
How hard is it to lose water weight?
“It really depends on the cause,” Cording says. If you’ve been eating a lot of salty foods, scaling back should help you see results in a few days, she says. But, if your water weight is due to a chronic health condition, you’ll usually need to address your health issue before you can lose the water weight, she says.
If you’re unsure what’s behind your water weight, Gans suggests trying these steps:
Cut back on salty foods.
Exercise (sweating help eliminate water from the body)
Drink more water
Eat less carbs, which cause the body to store water
When to see your doctor about water weight
Tried all of these action items and still not having luck? Keep your expectations in check: “Be sensible about your expectation of the speed of water weight loss,” Taub-Dix says. “What is causing the water weight? If you’ve had a few too many pickles, drink water and you’ll notice your weight going back to normal within a day. But if it’s linked to hormones, it might take a while.”
If you’re feeling out of sorts or very uncomfortable about your fluid retention, talk to your healthcare provider. Taub-Dix says, “This could be a sign of a blood pressure issue, medication problem, or other health concern.” Edema, which is swelling that occurs when there’s fluid trapped in the body, could lead to excess water weight. Certain diseases such as kidney disease and thyroid conditions can cause edema. If you suspect you have edema, talk to your doctor about running some tests.
Dietary supplements are products intended to supplement the diet. They are not medicines and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure diseases. Be cautious about taking dietary supplements if you are pregnant or nursing. Also, be careful about giving supplements to a child, unless recommended by their healthcare provider.
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