You can help water retention, which refers to an excess of water in the body’s tissues. It takes place when fluid which is normally circulating in the blood vessels and lymph ducts gets diverted into the tiny channels which are between cells, known as interstitial spaces, making the tissue swell.
Fluid tends to accumulate for two primary reasons. It can be due to increased blood pressure in your veins which leads to increased pressure in the capillaries which form a network through your tissues, causing the fluid to filter out of these capillaries into the tissues. Just standing for long periods of time can help water retention due to increased blood pressure in veins. Hence you may find your feet swollen at the end of the day.
Anything which can change the permeability of the capillaries can also help water retention and cause swelling. Allergic reactions can be one common cause. Also, in case you have an injury which causes the capillaries to leak, it may lead to swelling.
Leakage from capillaries is a clear cause of swelling. There are many herbs which can help water retention as they act as diuretics and help your kidneys to remove the water from your body. One of these is dandelion. Dandelion leaf helps to remove fluid from the body, besides supplying potassium, which other diuretics drain out of your body. Hence it is natural potassium – sparing diuretic.
You can help water retention which is temporary that may occur pre-menstrual by drinking two to four cups of dandelion leaf tea per day. Even though teas tend to work better as diuretics, you can take one or two capsules of dried dandelion leaf too.
You can even find alcohol-based tinctures of dandelion in the store, but since they are not as effective as teas or capsules, you will have to take an extremely high dose, which only means that you’re dosing up with too much alcohol.