Dark circles under eyes on Keto and other strange things

(Willie) #1

Hey Folks,

Been on Keto about 7 months. Lost close to 70 pounds. I feel better. Almost feel great.

But I don’t look like I feel. I’m late 40’s male.

Multiple folks (the ones I trust) say that I look ‘haggard’ or ‘tired’ or ‘sickly’. I do have dark circles under my eyes now and I’ve lost some hair and also gained some hair - just in different places on my head (been balding a long time) and also the color of my hair is changing. Some of my beard is turning white and some brown. Maybe some of these aren’t related to the diet, just me aging. I don’t know.

I’ve been sleeping better than ever so I don’t believe that is the problem.

I do KNOW that feeling better is the most important thing - but I can’t help but wonder what is going on with looking sick while feeling great.

Has anybody else experienced this dilemma? It worries me slightly that Keto has fixed some cognitive elements but might be causing me other issues that I just don’t see or feel.

Of course I’ll be talking to my Doctor about this in August when we meet next - and not really asking anybody to diagnose me - I’m just looking for similar shared experiences if they exist out there.

Thanks!

(Allie) #2

The dark circle thing is real, several of us have commented on it. I ignore them though as the benefits outweigh them.

(Joy) #3

F.Y.I. Hair loss is often reported by women who lose a lot of weight fast after bariatric surgery – part stress, part nutrition, part calorie deprivation. It comes back once they can eat more substantially after several months.

(Willie) #4

When you say stress - do you mean physical stress of losing weight? Or emotional stress? That’s interesting to me the distinction because I wonder if losing weight by itself is considered stressful to the body. I’ve always wondered if ‘things’ that are stored with the triglycerides when your body is burning your own fat get re-released back into the bloodstream and so can temporarily cause a variety of symptoms that may be puzzling until the weight loss settles down.

(Donna) #5

Losing weight is a stressor to the body - it’s a change. I’m too new to this journey to have much good advice, but I’ve heard others say that the hair loss stops eventually. I also have dark circles under my eyes, but I’m very stressed by work right now and not sleeping as well as I’d like, so attributed it to that. I’ll have to look into the keto connection tho.

(Beth) #6

I paid a lot of money for a functional medicine doctor who says yes, this does happen, because the body will store some toxins in fat.
Several things were suggested to me to help the liver cope. The ones that have worked best for me are eating chlorella tablets and/or taking activated charcoal.
The fastest for me is the activated charcoal. If I have a headache that doesn’t go away with salt, or any nausea, however slight, I take one or two teaspoons of coconut activated charcoal in a glass of water, followed by another glass of water. It has ALWAYS eliminated the headaches/nausea.
I buy it on Amazon.
The chlorella are especially useful if you eat a lot of fish because they help with heavy metal detox. I bought mine from Dr. Mercola. Expensive but safe and bioavailable. I chew them up with some salt and the consistency reminds me of potato chips. Weird but true.

(Willie) #7

Wow. Interesting and thanks so much for taking the time to share that. Gonna check that out now.

(Doug) #8

Hey William. :slightly_smiling_face: I’m 59, and have had dark circles under my eyes practically forever. Keto and fasting doesn’t make them worse or better. My beard is mostly white now, there too - nothing to do with keto. Male pattern baldness - receding hairline, been a thing for a long time with me. In my 20s is when I lost most of my hair on top. It’s still there now, just really thin. My ears and nostrils have steadily become better at growing hair, though - I’d say they are damn near world class.

Losing substantial weight and looking “haggard,” at least for a while, is pretty common. Hey Baby, give me that kind of ‘haggard.’

(Willie) #9

Haha. Thanks Olddoug. You basically said ‘Keep calm and keto on’ and I love it. I should pay attention to my own username here if I’m being honest.

#10

The look you’re referring is commonly referred to as “keto ghoul” and every person I’ve come across that I’ve got to actually talk to is eating like shit and typically pretty micro nutrient deficient. With that said many things can cause that from backed up sinuses, to food allergies and on and on. But I’d start with making sure your hydrated correctly and that your micronutrient intake is around what it should be. People doing normal low carb and Paleo often report this a couple months in, it’s not just us. Keep searching though, unless you have a cool doctor I’d fully expect him to just blame the diet rather than looking for a cause.

(Empress of the Unexpected) #11

But if you are under 20 carbs and eating meat, veggies and a bit of dairy and nuts, I wouldn’t think one would have this problem. I’m talking about a well balanced Keto diet. I’m at three and a half months and look fine. Dark circles don’t sound good, health wise.

(Liz ) #12

My mom has always called dark eye circles “allergic shiners”, she gets them from food allergies or chemical sensitivity. When I burn bodyfat I definitely feel like toxins are released from within. I’ve had a lot of good results using milk thistle for liver support. Helps with irritable moods too.

(Empress of the Unexpected) #13

I’ve heard great things about milk thistle. As for the undereye circles, I think, at least in my family, they have a genetic component. My daughter (21) has them. Oddly, when she is about to come down with something, even now, they turn into shiners. When she was four, I one day announced to dad that she was about to be sick - she had raccoon eyes! He said I was nuts. Enter projectile vomiting! From that point on he thought I was psychic! He never made the connection. I just have the usual 60- year old bags. Hope they don’t turn dark!

(Willie) #14

I know there is a spectrum with any diet/lifestyle from least healthy to most healthy and some individual interpretation along the way. I’m pretty confident I’m eating what is considered generically very healthy keto. I do 90% of my cooking. Only quality local grass fed meats. Only high quality oils. Lots of green leafy veggies, etc. Lots of tea and water. I also do raw kefir, raw cream and raw milk hard cheeses.

I’m going to consider going for a month or so off the dairy because that has been implicated. But dammit I love it and it’s part of what keeps Keto so delicious for me.

I do have a cool doctor. She is a functional medicine practictioner and I’ll see her in about a month - I’d just like to go in already researching this dark circle eye thing because you know how it is with doctors - you only get so much time.

(karen) #15

My under eye area seems somewhat dark and a bit puffy to me, but I have to wonder if maybe it’s just more noticeable now because my face is thinner and clearer. Yes, if I could get all the benefits of keto including clear skin but retain an extra pound of fat on my face, that would be awesome, but I’ll settle for everything else! I’m getting close to my maintenance weight, and curious to see if my face … recalibrates? over time or if this is just my new forever look.

(Willie) #16

Thanks Regina.

I responded to lfod14 above with similar but it applies here - I’m very healthy with my keto. So it’s a bio individual issue - just something in the way I’ve changed my diet that is impacting me as an individual that doesn’t seem to bother most people. I don’t think keto = dark circles. But perhaps for other reasons:

  • a) genetic (I do have hetero MTHFR)
  • b) impact of loosing weight (could happen with any diet)
  • c) Previous lifestyle (I don’t have liver damage according to the typical labwork but drank way too much alcohol before keto, it’s quite possible I just need more time to heal than most. I did the crime, now its time for me to do the time. But dark circles appeared a few months after Keto.
  • d) Fat loss in face under eyes exposing the thinnest part of skin on the body already.
  • e) Nutrient deficiency
  • f) Food intolerance
    *g) etc.

I think i’m going to try and summarize the dark circle causes people have mentioned here on this thread, and in other places around the internet and put them back here. So future people searching for this will have more options to explore.

(Willie) #17

Yes thanks Karen - this is kind of what I’m thinking. Just a matter of time - but in case it’s something I can change I want to at least explore that. I remain grateful for all the positive stuff that is going on - I just always have a ‘lets solve this puzzle approach’.

(Allie) #18

My diet is plenty healthy and clean, no keto junk food or chemicals at all, but I’ve had dark circles under my eyes since starting keto.

(Empress of the Unexpected) #19

Right from the start?

(Duncan Kerridge) #20

I’ve been eating keto for 20 months, lost 50lb in the first 4 and have been the same weight ever since. I did think I looked a bit haggard to begin with but it did sort of bounce back and I don’t have any dark circles.