Hi

Friday evening I was having dinner with lost of salty food (no carbs however .... - besides some chocolate afterwards) I woke up Saturday and my face looked so puffy. I was trying to drink a lot of water - and now it is monday and my face still looks bloated...
How long will it take for this to disappear? I was drinking loooots of water yesterday in the evening, before I went to bed. Could that also have contributed to the lasting puffiness?

Drinking lots of water should reduce the symptoms of puffiness. Was one of the salty foods cheese? In one of the first questions you asked I suggested that maybe you should try an elimination diet like Whole 30, and remove dairy and wheat (which can be hidden in tons of foods) to determine if you have a sensitivity to certain food groups. Those two are common. Dairy in particular causes an allergic like histamine response: http://whole9life.com/2013/03/the-dairy-manifesto/

And obvious, are you approaching TOM? Also check the weather...the humidity soared here yesterday, that makes a difference to my face. Not a common symptom like fatigue, but since bloating seems an on-going problem for you, have you had your thyroid levels checked? Or high blood pressure?http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-...es/dxc-20155382

A number of vegetables on Low Carb are natural diuretics like asparagus, celery and parsley.

Thank you so much for your answer.

I was eating beef which was bought marinated (probably lots of sodium), a lot of cheese yes, chorizo. So yeah, I guess there was a lot of sodium.
However, I dont really get all this sodium-talk. Either I hear people say that they retain lots of water after eating a meal with salt (like i experienced), and then I hear people emphasizing the importance for people on a LC diet to get enough sodium?
I am confused - because of course I will be healthy and have a great salt/water balance or whatever people call it :-) - But I also really want to avoid those days followed by a high-sodium meal where I feel so puffed up and bloated.

It might not be salt.

It could be an allergic reaction, or an imbalance in all the electrolytes: magnesium and potassium as well as sodium. It could be you aren't drinking enough water. There's so many things it could be.

As WearBear also suggests...it may not be the salt but an allergic response.

But as to the confusion about salt, and getting enough of it when you START a LC diet....

"The short answer is that the amount of carbohydrate in our diet changes our need for salt."

https://www.jonnybowden.com/salt-and-the-low-carb-diet/

Usually after an adjustment period of a month or so in the beginning of eating LC,the suggestion is to salt your foods to taste. I occasionally get light-headed if I haven't been doing that enough, but with my carbs consistently low, it is not necessary to add a lot. And if you do eat a processed food like a marinated meat (likely with lots of salt, MSG, sugar and other preservatives and additives) that will tip the balance. Alcohol is another food that can trigger bloating.

But not to sound like a broken record...try one month completely dairy - free. You write that bloating is a common problem, not a one off reaction to an marinated meat, so that seems possibly a histamine reaction.

Ps: dairy, especially cheese, is limited to small amounts on Atkins. Induction is 4 oz. (an ounce is about the size of a dice). Maybe just try cutting back from "lots"?
One of many previous threads on cheese: http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=472882

Dairy proteins cause my eyelids, undereyes, and sinuses to swell, and "lots" makes me look like I have "wheat face". So I avoid them, other than up to 2T per day of butter or ghee.

The "get more salt" recommendation is for people eating unprocessed foods, nothing processed or marinated in unknown ingredients. We marinate our meat in known ingredients. MSG and "liquid smoke" cause me extreme histimine responses (eyes & nose running, and wheezing & breathing difficulties).

If trying to cut out dairy, can I still get my cream in my coffee and my greek yoghurt? (very addicted, and looove both :-)) If I cut everything else out - cheese, milk, etc.?

You have to experiment. Once we get into the details, we can be quite different. That is why it is hard for us to give you definitive answers to your questions: we don't know the answers for you. Only you can figure that out, using your body's reactions.

A lot of use have learned that any food we see as very addicted, and looove, it could mean that this is a food that is causing us problems. I once thought I couldn't live without Snapple and sandwiches on bread.

I was wrong. It doesn't even appeal to me, now. But I would never have known that if I hadn't tried not giving in to them, at all.

Short answer: No, an elimination diet means just that.
Use ghee instead of butter, any of the coconut cremes/creamers instead of cream, and yogurt is out unless you want to try a coconut or soy milk substitute yogurt. It's only a month, then you know the answer for you. Usually Butter is first, and heavy cream second to test back into the diet.

Here's another dairy-free thread in same forum, I just added a list of dairy-free foods.
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...816#post9202816

Edit: one more thought, any meds? Mainly thinking of inhaled steroids for spring allergies. some users of the inhalers think them benign, but you can still have steroid side-effects and puffy face is one of them.

This is my $0.002.

Since you did not complain dry lips, I doubt it was the salt in your food.

Below is the home made solution to flush out salt in your body.

Put salt water in a bottle and put it in refrigerator.
1: Taste it and remember how salty it is. Use tap water to clean up the salt in your moth.
2: Eat couple big tomatoes to flush out your salt from your body.
3: Next day repeat step 1: 2: 3: until cool salty bottle water tasted extremely salty.

Banana has lots of potassium too, but too much carb.
One can google potassium foods.

One can also try to sweat the salt out in a hot bath.



If one google the causes of 'swelling', there are lots of info on the internet.
Some of them are food poisoning, allergic reaction, inflammation...

If one do not want to seek a doctor, one can try to flush out everything in the gut. Some of the reactions are caused by the toxin excreted by Gut flora(gut microbiota, or gastrointestinal microbiota)

This is what I did from time to time.(for BMI around 25, if your BMI >= 30, you will need more calories.)

prerequisites:
1. No greasy food in the last couple days
2. Stay near rest room the whole day

How:
Drink water or tea with couple tp of milk/butter or coffee with couple tp of milk/butter(not a requirement).

10+ small to medium size of pear or peach(get the one not sweet as possible)
2+ medium to large size of tomatoes

I call it a "Carb Day". Since the calories will not exceed 1000 kcal, even the body manages to store some glycogen, it will be gone soon. Do not eat greasy food in the next couple days.