Fluid retention.

Newsgroup: alt.folklore.herbs
From: J. A. Knapp <jknapp.primenet.com>
Date: 08 Jan 1996 01:07:01 -0700
Subject: Re: Cries for Water

> I have recently read parts of the book:
> Your Body's Many Cries for Water by F. Batmanghelidj, M.D.
> Has anyone out there read this book? Any comments? Any general comments about dehydration in general?

Never read the book, but when I was on Weight Watchers, they told us we needed to drink at least 8 8oz glasses of water daily. I am notorious for eating without drinking, and also notorious for never having to go to the bathroom. So when I was suddelnly forced to drink tons of water, I was AMAZED at: a) how often I was in the john b) how much better I felt! I never really though of myself as not feeling well, but I felt better than usual just by drinking the water alone. After a while (about a week or 10 days) your body adjusts to the amount of water coming into the body and you're not in the bathroom as often. My skin was noticeably softer, I felt great, and I lost a couple pounds, to boot.

I have always been a coffee/iced tea drinker, and those contan caffeine which is a diuretic. Drinking those liquids don't count, as you said.

Drink! Drink! Drink! You'll be so happy you did! It's the best thing you can possibly do for yourself.

Newsgroup: alt.folklore.herbs
From: callie.writepage.com (Callie)
Date: 08 Jan 1996 09:07:02 -0700
Subject: Re: Cries for Water

>Never read the book, but when I was on Weight Watchers, they told us we needed to drink at least 8 8oz glasses of water daily.
[snip]
> After a while (about a week or 10 days) your body adjusts to the amount of water coming into the body and you're not in the bathroom as often. My skin was noticeably softer, I felt great, and I lost a couple pounds, to boot.

It is not obvious without getting waaay into osmolarity and osmolality and dissolved solids in the body, but a common cause of "fluid retention" is not enough water.

Basically, your body gets too many dissolved solids (salts mostly) and holds on to as much fluid as it can to keep the concentrations down. If you start drinking enough water so the dissolved stuff is diluted below what the body is programmed to have, it has enough water to work with, and can dump the extra solids. Along with them goes the extra water you had to keep around to dissolve them in. Net result is usually a few pounds of water down the drain. The first few days can give you a lot of quality reading time alone with the fixtures, but once the initial excess of dissolved solids is dumped you get back to normal.

For this effect to kick in, the liquid you take in has to contain FEWER dissolved solids than your blood ... and water is the closest to zero solids that you can get.