Natural Remedies for Edema (Swelling in the Tissues)

I stopped my menstruation a year ago. I started black strap,and apple cider vinegar 1 month ago because my ankles were swollen, and redness was going up my legs. The apple cider and blackstrap did get rid of my swollen legs. I started a light period after 1 year of not having one. I said ''well hello''. I came to the conclusion that my body was so depleted of minerals that my body quit bleeding because it had nothing to give. I guess it will quit when it is ready to quit, I am not worried about it. I feel better than I have felt in years. If black strap was doing something to hurt me, then i would be feeling sickly. I feel young again. I don't suffer hot flashes anymore, my bones don't hurt, I am finaly able to loose weight. I have lost 25 pounds since I started blackstrap almost 2 months ago.i take it with apple cider vinegar, and warm water. Thank God for his wisdom of what is good for us.

Hello Jared (& fellow Orgonian),

Could you please tell me what kind of trace minerals you take and where you find them?

Thank you!

I think that's awesome! I will try. The bottom of my feet have felt real thick and al little numb since I had COVID.

I accidentally discovered a huge benefit of taking ACV. I suffered Covid back in March 2020. Since then I have had swollen puffy feet, can't see my ankle bones and big puffy areas around my knees. Ok, I made a simple vegetable soup yesterday: broth (unsalted), tomatoes, onion, carrots, celery and yellow squash. The recipe suggested a cup and a half of natural ACV!! Never heard of this!! I figured that the small amount of soup I made needed about a half cup. It was delicious but next time I'll put in a quarter cup. I am sensitive to ACV and it is a laxative for me. I was cleaned out!

The next day, I was AMAZED that I saw my ankles 1st time since Covid!! My knees were back down and no puffy feet!! Making my two quart total volume vegetable soup with just a quarter cup ACV in the morning!!! I found ACV by accident!!

Pink Himalayan salt is awesome too, it's so full of electrolytes, great for the whole body. I put a few sprinkles of it in my water bottle everyday. Xxx

My GF's father (62 yrs old) suffers from swollen legs (Peripheral Edema). He has serious heart issue's with mini-heart attacks everyday. Strong smells also set him off and makes his chest hurt. He eat's nitro-pills like M&M's. He says hot weather causes his legs to swell.“He works outside in construction”.

The family has been rubbing Rosemary essential oil undiluted on his legs. It brings the swelling down in a few hours and the smell does not aggravate his heart.

Hope this helps someone...

With all due respect to Janet, nitrates don't cause edema or swelling. In fact, they're used to TREAT those conditions.

I suspect that the reason her swelling diminished was because the foods she mentions --deli meats, cold cuts, ham, bacon, hotdogs -- are all EXTREMELY high in sodium. Cutting out those salty foods, if you could call them 'foods', will definitely help reduce edema and swelling.

The actual reason ACV works is because it constricts blood vessels, so it helps with venous insufficiency and varicose veins, which are major causes of edema.

Concentrated Trace Mineral Supplements. Direct cause and effect for me.

Was seeing an increase in left leg edema. I Increased water intake. Starting feeling migraine symptoms and recalled reading an article regarding trace minerals and migraines so started increasing my trace mineral intake. No more edema. No more migraines.

Everyone can stand to increase their trace minerals.

Update: Sorry, I made a mistake in my previous post. R+ALA 400mg. /day reduced the swelling by 25% not 75%. The swelling went down to 75% compared to what it was; therefore a 25% reduction. My apologies

R+ALA 400mg./day worked for me in 24 hr. reducing the swelling by about 75%.

Be sure to get the one with R+. I'm not sure what the R+ stands for but in previous posts on the old site it was stressed that it was better than just ALA alone.

My husband has been suffering from edema on his legs since before I knew him. We tried lots of things, with no relief. He started taking 600mg of Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) and 940mg of Butcher's Broom once a day (both easily found, purchased from Amazon).

Within hours, he felt the fluid begin to pull from the edema in tingly, not painful way. A week later, one of his legs is visibly smaller and the other is much more pliable; he feels great relief!

I went on a low fat diet (dr macdougal plan) and my edema disappeared. I also lost about 10 pounds in 6 weeks, which likely helped. As stated by another reviewer, I noticed that the edema flared when I was taking an otc pain reliever, naproxin.

Celery Juice For Edema

I have been suffering with Edema for years. My ankles and legs get swollen on a regular basis especially when I sit all day at a desk or if I am on a long flight. I have tried ginger tea, ACV, blackstrap molasses, and even drinking more water. I also tried walking to make the blood circulate but it still wasn't working.

Then I tried celery juice while on a vacation. After 1 day the swelling in my legs and ankles came down by half. After 2 days it came down by 3/4 and I was in the bathroom peeing all the time. By the 3rd day, my ankle and legs were the smallest they have been in years and I could see the veins in my feet. I drank the 16 oz celery juice every night. You will have to go to the bathroom in the morning. Now I have started drinking it in the morning on an empty stomach. If I miss it for one or 2 days, the swelling comes back. No other green juice works for this. I have tried. Just 16 oz of Celery Juice, with nothing added, is best. If you are adding something, which you shouldn't, it is ok to add a little bit of lemon juice.

I am happy that I found this, and I hope it helps you too.

Try Sam-E

I know this is an old post, but for anyone reading now, the reason ACV works so well (on so many things) is because it is a detoxifier! As we pull toxins out, we drop weight, get rid of pesky and bothersome ailments.

The best type to get has the mother and it should say it is unfiltered as well. And if you can find ACV that is unpasteurized, that is the best.

A lot of the reason for all the sickness these days is pasteurization. Literally, almost all foods that used to be homemade and contained tons of probiotics naturally, are now heated to 165 or greater to kill all chance of any bacteria--good and bad--potentially making someone sick. Unfortunately, now everything we eat makes us sick! Think of this--wine and cheese used to be made without pasteurization. Almost everything we ate before pasteurization was "discovered", we had so many good bacteria in us, we weren't getting sick from being so toxic and having failing immune systems!

Pasteurization also gets rid of the digestive enzymes that naturally come with food. No wonder we have so many ailments. We have wiped out our good bacteria population and have eliminated most of the enzymes needed to digest our food.

ACV is good. And if you want to take back even more control of your health, look up cultured or fermented foods. (Kombucha, Kefir, Yogurt, sauerkraut, all homemade canned/bottled veggies that are made the same way as sauerkraut.) Kombucha is the easiest and cheapest to make. And is a great fizzy-drink replacement. It's an acquired taste, but so is coffee and wine! And then you love it and you can't stand the taste of all the soda, bc you can taste the chemicals and it's just way too sweet. Even converted my husband to a kombucha drinker. All women know if their husband has been converted to a new good food, it can't be too awful, and it actually must be good--given a couple of weeks to adjust! Plus it only has 60 calories in 16 ounces. Delicious!! It can be used as ACV too! (Tastes better! )

For what it's worth, nitrates also occur 'naturally' in many foods. I put 'naturally' in quotes because the source is often chemical fertilizer which causes the nitrate levels to be unnaturally high. Celery is a prime example. You'll notice that instead of sodium nitrite they are now often putting celery juice in processed 'uncured' meats. That is because celery juice is high in nitrates, and then bacteria in the mix converts the nitrate to nitrite, and there you have the preservative created naturally - but it is nitrate and nitrite nonetheless.

So, if you are avoiding nitrates (as my wife tries to do) you might want to research which foods are likely to contain high nitrate levels (celery, watermelon, and others). The difficult part is that it often depends on how they were fertilized, so the numbers usually cover a wide range.

I believe for any chronic repetitive condition a food diary and elimination diet is probably the best thing one can do for edema. Rather than applying anti-inflammatory compounds you may get to the root cause of what is causing the inflammation. In my case I just kept note of when I would have the condition and what I ate the prior day. If I eat very cleanly, just some specific greens, teas, and little to no meat all is good. It seems the suspects for my edema/inflammation are milk products, soy milk with the added fillers, I only drink a Soy product which contains soy and water, which doesn't not cause issue. One should have their kidney's checked to rule out that they are functioning properly. Low salt of course.

Osteoporosis is easily prevented or reversed drinking lots of vegetable juices including green leaves. It is a disease of people who do not like to eat fruit, green leaves and vegetables.

Anything containing potassium will tend to lower the blood pressure, so that includes all fruits & vegetables. But low blood pressure can be an indication of poor adrenal & kidney function. Licorice root tea or capsules can help to raise low blood pressure. Small dose gradually increased is best so it can be monitored. Potassium is very healing, but always better when derived from fresh fruit & vegetables. Since going high fruit raw food I no longer suffer with edema and my insulin sensitivity is much improved. My injected insulin requirement (I am diabetic) has dropped by a quarter to half of the amount I was taking when following a high fat Ketogenic diet (which made my insulin resistance much worse).

Update: Since my last post I made a mistake and bought regular ALA instead of r+ALA and find it to be not as effective so I'm going back to the r+ALA and will advise if it works better.

Mustard seed powder is said to treat swelling.

Hi, Kety

If you have any heart disease, as it's the main cause of edema usually, L-carnosine (caps)+DMAE (caps)+CoQ10 (caps)+ 5 drops of Aloe Vera Oil on your tongue/or meal as your regular source will improve your heart muscle in short time and stop swelling.

Good luck, Kety. My best wishes and many happy returns.

Katy, look into inclined bed therapy, which is raising the head of your bed 5 degrees. Some believe that this is the way long ago peoples slept. It is purported to improve circulation of the blood and lymph, and edema is one of the many maladies it has been reported to improve.

Katy,

I'm glad to report that my success with the CBD oil continued for 2.5 months. That's how long it took to go through a small 495mg bottle taking .5ml first thing in the morning and last thing at night even though the recommended dose is only once a day. The swelling continues to stay away so I'm getting another bottle. You should be able to find it at any cannabis store. Pricey ($60.) but worth it. Good luck.

Good luck with the cannibis- I will be back to hear your progress. I am not sure I can purchase it but will find a way. I've suffered from ankle and lower leg edema and the misery it causes for most of life and my dr just increased my diuretic [Triamterene] today--because the hot weather makes it worse. This is a great site, I learn more each time I visit-Cheers to all you edema sufferers and thanks for your input.

Serrapeptase didn't help me with edema. By the way: every time I am taking Serrapeptase I have terrible RA and PA flare after a few days. My joints hurt so bad. I don't know if it is coincidence or not.

I have been diagnosed with venous insufficiency where only two out of six veins in one leg are working properly, causing Edema swelling. I suspect that my veins were damaged due to knee replacement surgery.

I have found CBD (cannabis oil) to be very effective in eliminating the swelling in my leg due to Edema. I first took it in the form of large gummy candies purchased from a licensed dispensary. After three days of taking one gummy candy per day I was surprised to see that the swelling in my leg had completely disappeared. I have since switched to the CBD tincture which is the much stronger liquid form dispensed from an eye dropper at .5ml per dose. After just three days of taking the tincture once a day I noticed that the pain in my foot was also starting to disappear.

I will continue with the same dose of CBD as long as my condition continues to improve and will provide an update in a few months.

For Edema, I have done many things but Serrapeptase seems to work the best as Edema's cause would be an enlarging heart caused by the interior wall of the heart thickening and stiffening due to "critter" infestations causing scar tissue to form in that part of the heart.

Also inositol and D-Ribose helps lots. Also, if the O2 levels in the blood are low the heart will attempt to compensate by pumping harder and frequently the lungs are the source of the problem as the crud we breathe plugs up and scars the lungs thus reducing the O2 uptake by the blood.

For toxic moments in life, Burdock Root or Milk Thistle helps the liver clean out the "remains of the dead critters" and clean water is very helpful too.

I realize Bo posted 5 years ago but I find it difficult to believe a tiney bit of cream of tartar almost killed him but he was able to eat bananas. For perspective I have drunk two whole teaspoonsfull in a glass of water more than once.

I get pain and muscle spasms in my legs when I lay down at night sometimes and calcium/magnesium/zinc pills, vitamin e, and coQ10 fix it within minutes. Bananas and a glass of milk used to work too, but I use pills now.

Hello!

I found your remedy to be very interesteng. My edema is a result of having Kaposi Sarcoma. Do you know if this will work in my situation.? My immune system is very weak, it's building back with help of medicines. Thanks for any input on helping me get this fluid out faster. Doctors have only have me try compression garments with physical therapy. It's helped to a certain point. Trying to get further progress.

Very needed advise,

Leander

False. Distilled water removes inorganic minerals, which your body can't use anyway. Organic minerals are immediately utilised. Be aware of this when buying mineral supplements: if they're not organic, they're not beneficial.

To Shirley,

After reading your post and doing some research I found that a potassium deficiency can be a contributing factor to edema. Beets are high in potassium so following the line of logic I started taking a potassium supplement - 2 X 99 mg/day plus ALA 8 X 200 mg/day with good results. Beets have also become a favourite but being a lazy cook I simply use a can of baby beets.

According to Dr. Berg, a potassium deficiency can be the cause of edema for some. Blackstrap molasses is high in potassium so that could be the reason it worked for you. We are all a little different and what works for one may not work for all. For this reason it is wise to try different cures and hopefully we will find something that works.

Update: ALA (r+alpha lipoic acid) seems to be effective in controlling my Edema. I still have the occasional flareup but not nearly as severe as previously.

I have eliminated anything containing nitrates (bacon, processed meats) and diet soda from my diet. I have tried eating a few things like beets (high in potassium) and asparagus (diuretic) without any noticeable change.

Since my previous post I have increased the ALA to 8 capsules- 800mg/day and plan to continue on this course.

Wow, ALA 600mg./day. I have been taking 200mg./day and will now double my dose. If I see improvement I will then consider going up to 600mg./day.

Thank you for your post!

If you are going to use straws, which I do, make sure they are made of stainless steel - which means you use them for life and clean them by dropping them in boiling water, or paper which are usable for a few times before they are disposed of. At least they are paper and break down. There are plant-based plastic straws but like the regular straws made of petroleum, the acid in the ACV may leech out of the straw into your body, which is not good.

Thanks so much for your post Janet! OMG, what was I thinking? Bacon and pepperoni sticks have now been banished. It will give me a good excuse to order waffles with strawberries and whipped cream next time I'm out for breakfast. he, he.

I have been adding blackstrap molasses to my coffee for months now. I like the taste. Will increase to twice a day to see if it makes my ankles go down.

UNSULPHURED BLACK STRAP MOLASSES isn't good as a sweetener. When I was 19 I took 1 T. in hot water w/ milk for a month. My blood count went from 8 to 13 in a month!!! Lots of minerals

EDEMA: It may help edema since it helps your blood & perhaps circulation. GET OFF SALT & SUGAR, KIDNEYS DON'T LIKE THEM!

GARY,,,,,,,,, using my shot gun method, so I really don't have a straight answer for what solved my problem. My PT guy said I must re-train my lymph system to flow. He taught me how to use my hands to pressure my system under my arm pits and down to my groan and inside my knee. I no longer have to wrap my legs, nor use extreme stretch socks. He was a bright young man. I think that sleeping with my legs raised on a cheap Walmart wedge was a God Send.

Suggest you also learn how to bristle brush your bod. Your lymph has no heart as your blood system, so it needs exercise or skin stimulation to make it flow. Chemicals won't do it. Lots of video's on u tube on how to do this. I wish you well. No simple short cut solution.

====ORH====

Edema, ankles swelling

Alpha Lipoic Acid - Tried this for Edema no luck but will try something else on this page as I read that somethings work for some people and some don't so I'm still looking.

Just a heads up, the calcium to magnesium ratio should be as close to 1:1, as possible.

How many milligrams of ALA? Please I need the same relief you got!

Treating edema by increasing energy-production pathways:

The most common underlying cause of edema is hypometabolism, or low basal metabolic rate. The reason that it plagues young women more than young men is that young men have a higher metabolic rate. Women have a higher estrogen influence earlier in life, which down-regulates metabolic rate (and raises maximum lifespan). But when men get old, they often have higher estrogen than their post-menopausal wives--and develop edema.

Most of the treatments for edema mentioned here raise metabolic rate, and most things that raise metabolic rate ease edema. Lipoic acid is a mitochondrial nutrient that stimulates metabolic rate inside your body's power plants. So can coQ10, carnitine, B1, B2, B3, NADH, coconut oil, MCT oil, ketosis (fat-burning metabolism), exercise (aerobic only), breathing, and negative ions (from a shower, waterfall or surf). These are bottom-up effects, enhancing metabolism from the ground up.

Your body's metabolic rate is also influenced by top-down mechanisms. Thinking positive thoughts, cultivating happiness, sleeping soundly, having a great sex life, relaxing, escaping traps (toxic jobs or relationships), and looking forward to waking up each morning can also raise metabolic rate. And the specific mechanisms of neuroendocrine regulation include steroids (progesterone and testosterone are up-regulators, and estradiol and estrone are down-regulators), corticosteroids (low cortisol is an edema trigger), and thyroid hormone. Most people with edema will read the symptoms of hypothyroidism and go, "yep, yep, maybe, yep, OMG yes, yep, maybe, yep" as they read them. See the thyroid one-pager on the Steve page at Project Wellbeing (dot com) if you don't want to track them down on one of a hundred pages on the internet.

Since insulin resistance is so common in our society and since it causes low metabolism when eating a carb-replete diet, ketosis can relieve edema in a sustained way. After being in ketosis for many days, the insulin-resistance threshold begins to lower and carb-based energy pathways begin to increase.

Two last things to mention in this brief intro: one is body temperature as a sign of hypometabolism and the other is nutritional deficiencies related to hypometabolism. Most people with hypometabolism have a low body temperature and low pulse rate. This is something you can monitor, and track over time, to see if the remedies that work (and do not work) are associated with subtle increases (or not) in body temperature. Lastly, some of the most prevalent nutritional deficiencies in modern society are directly associated with hypometabolism. Magnesium deficiency, vitamin D deficiency and B-complex vitamin deficiencies are three that first come to mind.

To reliably track your body temperature requires a good thermometer (electronic ones are unreliable), and the right timing. Early morning body temperature just before getting out of bed is the best indicator of basal metabolic rate, because it minimizes muscle contributions, digestive contributions and adrenal contributions. If you are not fortunate enough to still have a mercury thermometer in your possession now that they are illegal to sell retail, use a gallium thermometer or import a mercury thermometer to act as your temperature reference standards. Electronic thermometers can work OK if you know how to interpret their results by periodic comparison to a mercury or gallium thermometer--or a fertility thermometer.

If you do not want to be bothered with verifying the connection between your metabolic rate and your edema, you can simply correlate the easing of your edema symptoms with your subjective feelings of your energy levels, strength, stamina and mental clarity.