How to lose weight most effectively due to edema? How to distinguish edema from obesity?

Edema makes people look fatter because there is too much fluid in the subcutaneous tissue. Some people have edema constitutions, and drinking too much water or too much salt will easily make them gain weight. In fact, it is relatively easy to lose weight when suffering from edema. Excreting excess water from the body can restore weight. So what is the most effective way to lose weight when suffering from edema constitutions?

How to lose weight most effectively for edema

First of all, you need to know what type of edema you have, whether it is caused by spleen and stomach disorders or kidneys. If you have a related medical history or physical problems, you still need some food and medicine adjustments.

Generally speaking, edema is caused by poor circulation. If it is caused by dampness in the body as described in traditional Chinese medicine, it is usually caused by a weak spleen. The body fat will be relatively high and the metabolic rate will be low.

For people with low metabolism, diet control will not be very effective. They need to increase their metabolic rate.

Aerobic exercise can reduce fat, but too much aerobic exercise will reduce muscle. I recommend doing high interval exercise, which is short and efficient in reducing fat.

Strength training is a must. It is the most important way for people with high body fat and low metabolic rate to lose weight. Increasing the basal metabolic rate and muscle content will prevent you from getting fat, and will also make your body firm and improve edema problems.

Diet has little effect on people with low metabolic rate, so they should not use the starvation method to lose weight. Starvation will make the metabolic rate even lower, with less muscle, higher body fat and looser flesh. So you must not rely on starvation to lose weight. A balanced diet should ensure energy, and you just need to make sure that the calories do not exceed your metabolic rate.

Acupoint massage is still effective for people with local edema. I also think sauna sweating can be a method, but you need to be careful not to use it for too long.

How to distinguish edema from obesity

Edema is an excess of fluid in the spaces between the skin and subcutaneous tissues. It can occur in the arms, legs, face, or even the entire body.

Generally speaking, it can be judged by pressing the skin of the edema area. After pressing for a few seconds, the skin will become sunken and cannot rebound immediately, which is a typical manifestation of edema.

For milder edema that cannot be diagnosed by pressing, you can make the judgment by comparing yourself with the following:

• When you wake up in the morning, you find that your eyelids are heavy and your face is bigger than usual, but it returns to normal in the afternoon or evening;

• Every afternoon, I feel my calves become stiff and swollen, which gets better with some exercise;

• Shoes that fit you well in the morning may feel tight or even impossible to wear in the evening;

• The weight variation between morning and evening is large, exceeding 1 kg.

If the above situations occur frequently, it is considered edema.

Why does edema-type obesity occur?

Edema-type obesity is generally more common in women. The main causes of edema-type obesity are long-term mental stress, improper diet, such as eating too much salty food, long-term standing or sitting work, poor venous circulation, or taking drugs, such as hormones, which cause local edema. The main obese areas are the buttocks and thighs.

In traditional Chinese medicine, edema-type obesity is mainly caused by dampness in the spleen and stomach's digestive function, that is, poor metabolism of body fluids, which overflow into the skin or stagnate in the body. The food you eat and the water you drink cannot be converted into body fluids that can be used by the human body, resulting in the body fluids not being normalized.