Fight Fluid Retention with These Five Delicious Diuretic Smoothies

The following smoothies are made with ingredients with a high water content. Therefore, they have a diuretic effect that could help relieve fluid retention.

Reviewed and approved by Doctor Carlos Fabián Avila.

Written by Carolina Betancourth

Last update: 11 July, 2022

In this article, we want to share five diuretic smoothie recipes to eliminate fluid retention. Feel free to prepare them if you’re suffering from this problem. They’ll not only bring you relief but will be delicious as well.

If you’d also like to learn more about fluid retention and how to deal with it, keep reading.

Fluid retention and diet

Fluid retention or hydropsy is an inflammatory disorder that develops when your body can’t get rid of the fluid that builds up in its tissues.

It’s not a disease, but it can be a symptom of some disorders that compromise your renal, cardiovascular, and joint health. It’s also common in pregnancy, as a side effect of certain medications, and often occurs in people with a sedentary lifestyle due to hormonal changes, excess weight, and overconsumption of salt.

Fluid retention is characterized by swelling of the extremities and an uncomfortable feeling of heaviness and tingling. It’s usually accompanied by edema. This can be detected by pressing your fingers onto your skin for a few minutes and then removing them. If the indentation remains, you have edema.

Although sometimes, the intervention of a professional is required for its treatment, most cases can be solved naturally. However, it’s essential to consult a doctor to rule out any health problem that could be causing it and to avoid any possible complications.

As a rule, one of the first dietary measures is to stop eating foods with added salt and processed products containing a lot of sodium. It’s also advisable to introduce many fresh foods into the diet. For example, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins.

There are some ingredients that can be of great help that can be included in the form of diuretic shakes. Due to their combined ingredients, these drinks promote inflammation and relief from the discomfort of fluid retention.

1. Melon and apple smoothie

Both melon and apples contain diuretic compounds that reduce inflammation in the tissues and balance fluid levels in the body. Combined with the nutrients in chia seeds and kiwi fruit, this smoothie will help your body control fluid retention.

Ingredients

• 2 kiwis.
• 1 apple.
• 2 melon slices.
• 1/2 a glass of water (100 ml).
• 1 tablespoon of chia seeds (10 g).

Method

• Add all the ingredients to your blender (except the chia seeds). Blend until you have a homogeneous mixture.
• Serve, adding the tablespoon of chia seeds.
• Drink in moderation.

2. Pineapple and green tea smoothie

Pineapple is a fruit with a high water content, which can help eliminate fluid retention. Green tea is a drink that contains small amounts of caffeine, which could be the origin of its diuretic properties. So together, they make a really suitable drink for this problem, provided you have a good tolerance for tea.

Ingredients

• 5 strawberries.
• 2 pineapple slices.
• 1 tablespoon of flax seed (10 g).
• 1/2 a cup of green tea (100 ml).

Method

• Add all the ingredients to a blender.
• Blend until you have a homogeneous mixture.

3. Cucumber and parsley smoothie

Cucumber is made up of 90 percent water, making it one of the best diuretics to fight fluid retention. In this recipe, it’s combined with parsley to make a really refreshing smoothie.

In addition, some animal studies showed that those who drank an aqueous extract of parsley eliminated a greater volume of urine (over 24 hours) compared to those who drank water.

Ingredients

• 1/2 a cucumber.
• 5 sprigs of parsley.
• 1 cup of water (200 ml).

Method

• Chop the cucumber and add it to the blender with the parsley and the water.
• Blend until you get a homogeneous, smooth beverage, and serve.
• If you want to, you can add a few drops of lemon or lime juice to add flavor.

4. Pineapple and grapefruit smoothie

Pineapple and grapefruit are low-calorie fruits that can help reduce fluid retention and excess weight due to the water they contain.

Ingredients

• 3 pineapple slices.
• The juice from 2 grapefruits.
• 1 tablespoon of chia seeds (10 g).
• 1/2 a glass of water (100 ml).

Method

• Chop the pineapple slices and add them to the blender along with the chia seeds and grapefruit juice.
• Add the water and blend until it forms a homogenous mixture.

5. Papaya and pineapple smoothie

This natural pineapple and papaya smoothie is a natural remedy for fluid retention. Pineapples are one of the fruits with the highest content of potassium, a mineral that’s found in all cells and is essential for maintaining correct fluid balance.

In addition, this drink supports the intestines and digestive processes. That’s because papaya contains natural enzymes that, after being absorbed, fight inflammation and digestion difficulties. Therefore, its intake feeds the intestinal microbiota and reduces the risk of inflammatory diseases.

Ingredients

• 3 papaya slices.
• 2 pineapple slices.
• 1 cup of water (200 g).
• 1 tablespoon of flax seed (10 g).

Method

• Remove the seeds from the papaya, slice it into chunks, and add them to the blender along with the pineapple, flax seeds, and water.
• Blend for a few minutes and drink it fresh, without straining.

Other tips to avoid fluid retention

Mild edema usually disappears on its own. In more serious cases, it’s necessary to control the underlying cause to avoid pain and possible complications.

There are some extremely easy measures and habits that can be adopted to greatly improve moderate cases. Furthermore, putting them into practice can help prevent this problem. However, before trying them, you should always ask a doctor which would be most appropriate for you.

• Practice physical exercise. Any type of activity is useful since a sedentary lifestyle is often one of the causes of fluid retention. If edema already exists, there may be some more appropriate kind of movement for the affected limbs.
• Keep the affected part elevated, above the level of your heart. You can do this at different times of the day and even at night. Keep the affected area clean and prevent your skin from drying out too much.
• Firm (but not painful) massage can help move the fluid out of the affected area.
• Your doctor may recommend the use of compression bandages and stockings.
• Reduce your consumption of table salt, processed products, and preserves that contain high doses of sodium or added salt. Use herbs and spices to flavor. Increase your consumption of fresh products (especially fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains).
• Drinking water helps drain the extra fluid. Limit alcohol consumption.

In many cases, fluid retention can be controlled with simple measures if there are no major diseases behind it. However, you must see a doctor if you experience persistent pain and swelling, difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, or chest pain.

Enjoy these diuretic smoothies

Remember that, in addition to drinking these diuretic smoothies, you should also try to maintain good lifestyle habits. Otherwise, you won’t achieve the desired benefits.

Last but not least, try not to add sugar to these smoothies, since this is a substance that also promotes fluid retention and is also harmful to your health. Ideally, you should enjoy the taste of fruits and other ingredients in their natural form.