As many of you long-time posters know...I am 100% LOW CARB ... I believe in this wasy of eating (and life) and will continue to low or lower carb for the rest of my life. But, one thing about this "WOE" that is really bugging me is the darker circles I get when I am in the weight-loss mode on Atkins. They are hideous and make me look sick (which I am not). I have had every blood test possible and am in perfect health but when I went off carbs or when I added carbs and not in the weight loss mode....those circles became less noticible.

And I know many others experience same thing. Can someone PLEASE explain to me why. I guess I'll just have to invest in a case load of cover-up sticks.

I found this among a few others while researching. This in response to a woman asking about her husband's dark eye circles.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/ask_doc...rkcircles.shtml

Three things contribute to dark rings under the eyes:

an inherited tendency
natural aging processes, and
lack of sleep.
There's not much you can do about the first two of these.

Ageing thins the skin

As we get older the skin gets thinner, due to break down of the 'scaffolding' formed by collagen fibres and weakening of the elastic fibres which keep the skin taut.

The thinning of the skin is particularly noticeable in certain parts of the body, especially those areas where the skin is stretched over bony structures without thick layers of fat and other tissues beneath. The skull is typical, especially around the eyes. Another place is the back of the hands, which often look darker with age.

There isn't room for fatty layers around the eye sockets because this would get in the way of our ability to move our eyes and see. So skin around the eyes is thin and gets thinner with age - allowing the blood vessels and darker shadows of bone to show through.

To some degree this process is again controlled by our genes and family patterns, but it is also influenced by things which damage the skin such as too much Ultraviolet A light (UVA), or smoking.

It's usually women who are more aware of the damage that smoking does to their skin but if your husband smokes, this could be contributing to his dark circles.

Lack of sleep

Lack of proper restful sleep also cause dark rings for reasons which are not properly understood, but which may be related to skin and blood supply changes in the area.

A difficult problem to tackle

There is very little that can be done about dark rings, other than getting as much sleep and rest as possible. This may mean taking a serious look at your work and sleep habits, including not just the amount of sleep - but the quality of it too. Is sleep interrupted, especially by snoring or waking episodes? Do you get enough sleep, especially at the right times of the night for you?

Beauty treatments

Various beauty products or complementary therapies are claimed to have miraculous powers on tired baggy eyes - but I remain somewhat cynical. Neither can cosmetic surgery offer much to help treat thin skin.

I have a couple of female friends who are leading lights in the beauty world and both of them have dark circles under their eyes. They acquired them with age and have failed to remedy the problem despite throwing every trick in the book at them.

There is one cosmetic - a liquid-like foundation - which does help because it contains titanium powder which reflects light across the dark area. TV make-up people swear by it, so perhaps it might be worth having a word with your local beauty counter.

I get that too--I use Vita-K, you can get it at Walgreen's. It's a gel you put on at night it's aboiut $10 for a bottle that lasts about 3 months and it's really helps! Good Luck

I used to have nasty dark circles when I was a kid, (my mother always asked me if I was constipated ) and I once read that if you are eating too much salt you can get dark circles. It made sense to me because I ate ALOT of salt when I was little, and now I eat much less and don't have them.

HTH,

Jenn

I have noticed the circles under my eyes are darker since I started this WOE, too. I didn't actually associate it with the food plan until now. I just thought I'm "getting older". I haven't really been off the plan since August, so I can't say if the circles get lighter. I DID go buy concealer sticks!

WOW, I noticed this last week and wondered the same thing. Thank you for posting this.

I've always had that problem,no matter what and I hate it too -- the solutions I have come up with is a slight tan on the face (I emphasize slight) and then use a concealer, not too heavy - the best I have found is Yves St. Laurent, it doesn't "cake" and it doesn't look like you have it on.

Vikki

I never had circles under my eyes...and if my memory serves me right..neither did any of my family members. I will try the Vit K gel. Thanks

I've been noticing sporadic dark circles--some days I have them, some days I don't. I can correlate worse circles on the morning after a higher salt night. Will pay more attention over the next few weeks.

Thanks!

if it isn't more a lack of potassium? LC is very diruetic and can deplete minerals. And potassium is an antagonist to sodium. So, the sodium gets the upper hand and is coloring under our eyes!!

My son has those and his doctor calls them "allergy shiners". Maybe you're allergic to something you're eating more of or haven't eaten before.

Let me know if the Vit k gel works--but the way it;s guarenteed, so if it doesn't take it back

Yep I agree with GreyScot here, my SIL gets the same thing, it's allergies to foods, according to here Dr. but she won't eliminate anything to find out, So she has looked like that for years! Stubborn Woman, LOL

Ditto what Kathy42 and GreyScot said. Both my DH and my oldest DD have allergies and they both have chronic dark circles under their eyes. My DD's doctor also refers to them as "allergic shiners" and said they are quite a classic symptom of people who have allergies. Hers are quite noticible because she also has very fair skin (a trait she inherited from DH's side of the family).

Shiners can be allergy shiners, but for women, can also be a sign of estrogen dominance.

I find one week before my period, when PMS intensifies (estrogen dominance), I have incredible shiners. When TOM starts, shiners gradually disappear.