No matter what your age or how much sleep you’ve gotten, dark circles can give a person the appearance of looking older and tired. The most common thought that comes to mind when people see someone with bags under their eyes is lack of sleep, however, dark under eyes can be connected to many other common health ailments.  Use these fitness tips to target why you could be suffering from this beauty robbing  issue and use these remedies turn back time and get your glow back!

I personally suffer from under eye bags.  Sure, lack of sleep plays a part in those nagging dark circles, but through trial and error (and a bit of research), I’ve discovered that rest isn’t the only thing making these monsters appear.

4 Reasons for Dark Under Eye Circles

Allergies

Seasonal Allergies and Dark Under Eye Circles

I grew up in the clear fresh air of Washington state.  Full of beautiful green trees, blue skies, and consistent rain to wash away the impurities in the air.  Fast forward 15 years, I now live in one of the most polluted cities in America, LA.  The air quality changes with the weather, smog is a common (if not a daily occurrence) and the circles under my eyes fluctuate with the seasons.  It wasn’t until I moved to California that I realized that air influenced my congestion levels and in turn, backed up my sinuses.  While I try not to take pills, Claritin was able to decrease my allergies and unclog my sinuses.  This reduced the deep dark circles that I had suffered from since moving to this wonderful state 😉

In later years, I turned to a more natural alternative to over the counter allergies pills and opted for AllerDx, a natural, herbal decongestant that I take daily.

Food Allergies

As a kid, no food was ruled out.  We ate bread, dairy, sugar, and processed foods.  As I got older I realized that dairy was actually one of the culprits giving me these deep dark bags. Congestion was increased each and every time I ate these foods.  When I removed dairy for long periods of time, my congestion decreased and so did the bloating that I hated SO MUCH.

The Mayo Clinic lists allergies as one the top causes of dark under eye circles.

Hormones and Lack of Sleep

Hormones play a role in everything that we are.  Our motivation, our libido, the protein we use and create muscle out of, our metabolism, mood, and even our digestion all stem from hormones.  Hormones also play a role in how deep we sleep.  Even the slightest irregularity can cause things to become imbalanced.  Irregular sleep patterns can cause a break down of the body leading to other more chronic aliments connected to the immune system.  This causes undue stress on the adrenal glands of the body. This then triggers a hormone known as cortisol.  This is the “fight or flight” hormone that tells the body it’s under stress. Adrenal fatigue can be a main cause of  dark circles and can also be an indicator that you need more time to rest, relax, and recuperate. Without the right hormone balance you’re almost certain to have bags under your eyes due to not enough sleep and restorative rest.

Lack of Sleep

The most common link to under eye circles is sleep!  As I’ve discussed above, this isn’t the ONLY reason for under eye bags, but it is one of the most common!  Getting regular sleep of at least 7-9 hours can help you to combat circles and keep you rested, revived and healthy!

Anemia and Dark Under Eye Circles

Anemia is also another cause of under eye circles.  I experienced this when I found out that I was anemic.  After adding in a small dose of iron every night my circles decreased in less then a week! Remember, there are two ways you can become anemic.  One is from lack of iron in the diet and the other is lack of iron absorption due to a B12 deficiency.  I had the second version and needed to supplement with both iron and B vitamins to help complete the process.

You’ve probably been going through this list of reasons for under eye circles and checking the boxes off as you go.  While you may not have every issue, you probably can relate to one or two of them!  These indicators could help you to solve more then just beauty related ailments, they can also help to guide you to solving health issues as well!  Take them to heart and let me know if you have any questions in the comments section below.

Better health, one tip at a time….

Adria