Category Archives: Health

Ways to Reduce Water Retention

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image of banner: Do better with our health

Since I’ve been back in my hometown, I’ve noticed I’ve been putting on weight… and my ankles look swollen. 🤨 In doing a few searches online, I discovered it could be from water retention. So, I thought I’d write an article about it.

There was one particular article found on Healthline.com that I thought was very interesting.  It’s was called 6 Ways to Reduce Water Retention (Edema).

Edema, water retention, happens when excessive fluid is retained in the circulatory system or within tissues—causing swelling in the hands, feet, ankles, and legs.  There are several potential causes for this.  Hormonal changes, lack of physical activity, kidney disease, obesity, and even allergies are a few that I’ll mention.  The article I mentioned above names others as well.

My concern at the moment is with my ankles–so I was looking at ways of addressing that issue.  If you have a concern with water retention, please check with your doctor (if you have one), to make sure it’s not a serious condition associated with why you’re retaining water, otherwise there are a few things you can try to maybe help reduce the amount of water being retained.

NOT Drinking water is NOT THE ANSWER.  Surprisingly, you may not be drinking enough water to begin with—which adds to the problem of fluid retention.  So, one option to address fluid retention should be: DRINK MORE WATER.

Other things to try:

  1. Exercise more. Who wants to do that right? …lol.  Subtle changes can make big differences.  Consciously add more movement and activity to your daily routine.  Do things that you will enjoy and know that you will continue to do. Then continue to add other things to your daily routine.
  2. Eat less salt/sodium. No doubt this is hard…cause salt tastes so good. I know. Enjoy it in moderation.
  3. Eat more fruit and vegetables. I read that eating fruit high in potassium like bananas, tomatoes or avocados could help reduce the fluid retention. Eating other fruit like peaches, watermelon and cucumber could also help.  Of course, eating a variety of fruit and vegetables can help with a lot of issues and get you looking right.
  4. Eating herbs or making teas like dandelion tea could be a natural diuretic to add to your mix. I was surprised to find out how many edible things just grow out there in the yard.   I think you should absolutely investigate and learn about plants before you make a tea or soup out of it, but there are a surprisingly number of good plants that are helpful and used to be used as home remedies, but today we call them weeds or flowers.

There is a lot more information about this topic to be found in the links below.  I just wanted to write a few notes on what I found to get you started.

Thanks for reading and I hope you keep coming back to the site and exploring.  Tell your people about me and contribute to our grow!  ✊🏾

 

Resources:

Stop Retaining Water…By Drinking More Water

Google Search about Water Retention

Let’s Take a Look at Distilled and Other types of Water

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I was looking up information on WebMD recently about the different types of water.  Certain types of equipment mention using distilled water specifically.  I was surprised at the information I found and thought it would be interesting to share.  Summarily it stated that:

Distilled Water

It’s steam from boiling water that has been cooled and returned to the liquid state.  Salt, minerals and other organic materials have been removed from the boiling process.

Tap Water

This is water that comes straight from the faucet.  It may usually have been disinfected with chlorine and sediments removed.

Filtered Water

Filtered water is tap water that has been strained through filters to remove chlorine and other bacteria based on targeted chemicals.

Purified Water

This is water that is free of microbes and chemicals through the process of reverse osmosis.  This is achieved by forcing water through a membrane to get rid of chemicals, minerals and microbes.  Other methods of purifying water is described in the WebMD article.

Spring Water

Though not specifically discussed in the initial article that the other types of water were mentioned in, Spring Water should definitely be mentioned in this conversation.  Spring Water is also known as Mineral Water…although mineral water can also be made artificially by adding salts and other items back to distilled water.  This water comes from natural springs where moving underground water is used without processing.

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Resource:

WebMD Information about Water

WebMD about Spring Water

Growing Your Own Food Might be Worth the Time Investment

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Last year, I tried an experiment to see how hard it would be to grow my own plants and food.  I got some supplies from Amazon… (growing medium, jar cups, and rocks) and other supplies locally… (soil, pots, etc.).  It wasn’t as hard as I anticipated to start the project—but the effort came in being consistent and knowing what to do as the plants began to grow.  If you travel or are out of the house a lot, and won’t have anyone to look after the plants to water or care for them, you may want to have them outside, where they can work with nature to fend for themselves.

You don’t have to “watch” the plants as much as having to “monitor” them.  I chose not to initially plant anything directly in the ground because I wanted to see how hard it was to have a portable garden. Pots and planters are easy to move around and can either be grouped together or placed in certain areas according to the amount of sunlight needed.

Growing your own fruits and veggies can really be a confidence booster as well as help save on your food bill. I encourage you to explore this as a hobby and then maybe become a serious gardener.  Things are changing in the world and having additional survival skills is a game changer.

As you may know, I usually don’t go into depth on my posts, but I do try to provide links or resources for you to do your own follow up or research.  So, check the link below and happy planting!

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Resource:

Google Search on How to Grow Things

 

Supplies
Starter seeds
Images from my portable garden
labeling seeds
Starting to grow
…😏 a different kind of tree… but much needed for gardening, …them plants can be stressful😎

Do You Think It Matters When You Eat Fruit?

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“Do you think it matters when you eat fruit?” If you’ve started adding more fruit to your diet and meals, you might have the same questions I had.  Or,  “Do you eat the fruit before, during, or after the meal?”

I’ve heard a variety of things on the topic so, I put the question to Google as a search.  (You can see the search link below.)  Honestly, I think I agree more with my sister on this when she says she doesn’t think it matters.  But, there is a part of me that still thinks it depends Read More

2021…Are You Having Fun Yet?

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sketch image of groundhog

I am.  Twenty-Twenty-One so far, has been a year of moving forward.  Trump lost.  Progressives have gained some ground within and without the Democratic Party.  And we continue trying to make things better.

I must admit though, I am absolutely ready for Progressives to be a majority in the House and Senate in 2022.  I truly believe that it is possible.  Personally speaking, I am tired of both Democrats and Republicans.  I want people who are willing and ready to do big things for the American people, and not so much for corporations– because Read More