How to treat oedema

In Part 3 of Drugs! Are you on a diuretic, I will summarize what you can do about your oedema instead of taking these drugs. It’s a win, win situation because what you read here will also help with other conditions such as diabetes and obesity. If you take these tips on board, you will be on your way to a healthier, happier and slimmer you.  Read on and enjoy your new way of living!  By the way, you can read Part 1 here and Part 2 and Part 4.

 1.   Intermittent Fasting

This method of eating is really effective, healthy and easy and can kick that oedema to the kerb in no time flat and help lose weight to boot.  If you have type 2 diabetes you will definitely notice a difference.  Some of you may think it sounds difficult, but we have tried this way of eating and we’re hooked, it’s really easy.  It’s called ‘intermittent fasting’.  All you do is make sure you only eat during a certain time of the day.  For example you can make sure you eat reasonably early in the evening and then don’t eat anything after a certain time, which will include all night and a part of the next morning.

A new way of eating

Dr Ken Berry says “Intermittent Fasting is the Newest Diet, that is actually thousands of years old! It is easy, free and fool-proof. You already fast when you are asleep, all you have to do in slowly increase your Fasting Window, and decrease your Feeding Window, and you will start to see results. It is the Cheapest Diet Ever!”

There are many ways to do intermittent fasting and I will leave it up to you to research for yourself what suits you best.  But for me and hubbie, we simply stop eating at 8pm.  Then we don’t eat again until late lunchtime, that’s it!  So our window of eating is between 1:30pm – 8pm, just 6.5 hours.  This means we have a period of around 17.5 hours when we don’t eat.  We drink plenty of water (with Mg Chloride in), tea and the odd coffee.  It sounds hard, but we found it really easy and it has been proven to reduce oedema and help control conditions such as diabetes as there is no insulin spiking during the fasting hours.  Although we were not overweight to start with, we have both lost weight without trying and I never get any bloating or oedema in the ankles and feet when travelling, like I used to.

Start Slow

You can start slowly, say stop eating at 9pm and don’t start again until say 10am, that’s a fast of 13 hours, it’s not difficult honestly and you will reduce your oedema and you will lose weight.  Increase your fasting period week by week until you have a major part of the day without food.  You don’t have to restrict what you eat as long as it’s not junk food, bad fats, diet sodas etc., you know what’s good for you and what isn’t I’m sure.  If you get hungry have a cup of tea or coffee or drink some water.

What we do

Once you get into the swing of it, you can adjust the fasting to suit your lifestyle.  If you have a dinner date for instance, enjoy it and carry on with your fasting regime the next day.  We generally eat this way on a daily basis, but we won’t go without.  When we have a wedding to go to or a night out on the town, we forget the fast and enjoy ourselves.  But we always return to it the next day.  You will find that if you do have a ‘blowout’, fasting the next day is easy to do and quite often food is not top of your list!

Digestion

You will find your digestion will improve and when you do have a night out and eat stuff you usually don’t, you may find your stomach will complain and old digestive problems may return temporarily, such as heartburn and bloating.  This is a good time to realize which foods do actually upset you, so you can learn from the experience.

This way of eating has actually naturally reduced my bread intake and if we go out to eat and I have a lot of bread, my stomach lets me know it doesn’t like it.  This has taught me to lay off the wheat a little and reduce it as much as possible. My digestion is perfect now and I had so many problems with it a few years back.  Mind you, I put a lot of that down to a Mg deficiency which I don’t have now.

This way of eating teaches you a lot about your own body and how different foods have different effects on you.  I have come to love good foods like brocolli, nuts and berries.  I now don’t want to eat bread and cakes but I do eat chocolate every evening, it is the last food I have at 8pm.  I try and eat the darker variety but occassionally have a few squares of milk chocolate.  I also indulge in a small glass of wine whilst I’m preparing dinner.

2.   Always eat the good stuff

When you do eat, make sure its the good stuff.  Don’t eat junk and don’t drink diet coke or other aspartame laced drinks.  Avoid aspartame, it is definitely bad for you and it WILL NOT help you lose weight, quite the opposite.  In fact, did you know that Coca Cola, Pepsi and, Dr Pepper are being sued.  The complainants say the word ‘diet’ on the cans and the advertising is misleading and has led to them putting on weight.  “Marketing these brands as “diet” is false, misleading and unlawful” the suits claim.

Cook your own foods from scratch if you can.  Grow your own foods if you have the space, it is very rewarding eating your own produce.  With just a little space you can grow a few smaller foods such as garlic.  Herbs are always nice to have in your garden and they smell great too!

3.   Don’t worry about cholesterol

It’s a myth that cholesterol will kill you.  But it will definitely kill you if don’t have enough! Just eat healthy fats such as avocado, organic coconut oil and grass fed butter.  Those people with low cholesterol levels are more likely to suffer with dementias, brain fog and other brain problems.  Around 25% of the body’s cholesterol is in the brain, it is vital for the body and the myelin sheaths which insulate the nerves.  Independent research reveals the ‘cholesterol myth’ and it’s worth looking at this research for yourself.

Forget your cholesterol, just make sure what you eat is good quality unprocessed foods and include those often vilified eggs, they’re great but make sure they are at least free range if not organic.  Eat raw nuts especially almonds, pistachios, walnuts and cashews.  Don’t eat too much fruit but avocados, berries, apples and grapefruit are especially good for you.

The super veggie is broccoli from the cruciferous family.  Cruciferous veggies are the best!  Eat grass fed meat if possible and definitely avoid meat from intensively farmed animals and farmed fish.  I know the best foods are the dearest but try and eat as much fresh organic food as you can afford and make an effort to do your own cooking.  That way you will know exactly what goes into your meals.

4.   A sign of aging

An imblance of Mg and Ca is a sign of aging and if you want to keep supple and avoid heart disease, depression, insomnia, arthritis, rheumatics and general aching and stiffness as you age, you best take notice of Mg.  This wonder mineral is absolutely vital for all animals and plants alike.  If you are continually depleted, you WILL slowly get sick.  A continual Mg deficiency will shorten your lifespan.

To avoid an imbalance, make sure your intake of Mg’s sister mineral Ca is not excessive.  Don’t take Ca antacids such as ‘Tums’.  These antacids allow you to consume 3000mg of Ca each day.  No way will you be able to balance that with 3000mg of Mg, and that doesn’t include your normal daily consumption of Ca which is fortified in many foods by the food manufacturers.  Excess Ca is dangerous!

5.   We all get old

Yes, we all get old, but better to be sound of mind and body and live our lives to the fullest into our 80s and 90s.  Perhaps you may even get to 100 like the lovely lady in this picture, she looks great!

6.   The Miracle of Magnesium

This site is all about Mg with occassional diversion to other natural health subjects which I’m passionate about.  I started this webpage because I found out about this amazing mineral and it cured me of all my ills and conditions within just a few weeks.  I am now a fit and healthy woman in her ‘golden’ years.  When I look around me and see people much younger than myself, struggling to walk and obviously in discomfort, I am saddened.

All you need

I just want everyone to learn about their own bodies and how vitamins, minerals and nutrients, gained from good food and a few supplements, are all that’s needed to keep our bodies in tiptop condition.  Some nutrients, however, are a little more important to your health than others and Mg is one of them. This added to regular exercise is all you need.

Drugs will only slowly degrade your body, deplete your Mg and other nutrients until you succumb.  It will be put down to genetics and/or old age. Your bones will suffer and Ca will be allowed to run riot in your soft tissue causing calcifications where it settles.  You will become stiff, achey, depressed and will slowly lose your quality of life.  Just have a think for a moment and wonder…  How many pharmaceutical drugs do you know that actually cure a condition?

Get off diuretics if you are able to and try the above natural alternatives.  Get your doctor on your side, but please make sure your medic is on board about natural alternatives.  Naturopathic doctors who are also MDs are more au fait and may be the way forward.

Questions?

Because there are so many questions about diuretics, I will do a 4th post on diuretics, with actual questions from patients and their loved ones.  You may have a similar question about this class of drugs that could be answered in this last post.