I'm told that i can't take plain water during confinement otherwise the swelling of my tummy will not subside; we are only allowed to take red dates and longan drink. Is this true?

I heard about this too. But for me I like the red dates tea taste so I continue to take. It is believed that during confinement we need to keep our body warm enough to recover from childbirth. If you want to take plain water, you can take warm plain water instead of cold one.