Dark circles under eyes on Keto and other strange things

(MelissaH) #27

@blissout curious how your doing now? Were you able to figure anything out?

(Lance) #28

Hi all!
I’m new here, first post. But not at all new to the world of health and alternative/natural healing.

So I have had health issues the past couple of years and went modified keto in the last couple of months. By “modified” I mean that I am very low carb, moderate proteins and shooting for moderate fats (high fat didn’t work for me when I tried keto 3 years ago, I gained weight). I also include a healthy assortment of vegetables.

RESULTS:
While it is still new, and I am slowly losing weight (far slower than when I did this a decade ago–I am a male in my 50s), it is none-the-less moving along.

But I am now seeing these very dark circles under my eyes too! THis is completely new for me, and is not genetic. It is not from lack of sleep. It is unlikely to be from stress (except any related to the healing process).

The fact that I am losing weight so slowly, and have a mid-section gut, leads me to believe I have liver issues. This in turn makes sense in its relation to dark circles. Plus, I tend to think losing weight re-introduces stored toxins into the body, putting stress on the liver.

So I am hoping that as the months click by this is something that naturally goes away. If it doesn’t, then unlike some that have posted, I would take it to mean something is wrong and changes need to be made.

As I type this, I realize that I should also note that I am regularly doing intermittent fasting, with 1 or 2 meals a day (hard to do one with it being winter now), and I am doing the occasional 2-day fast.

Last item, I started adding MCT oil to my coffee when starting keto. No more than 1 tablespoon. And no more than another 0.5 tblspn if I have a second cup in the afternoon.

Happy to find this wonderful forum!!

(Carl Keller) #29

Hello and welcome Lance.

There are a number of possibilities for the dark circles under your eyes. I get them too but I already had them before I started Keto. Something that has helped but not fully cured this is dabbing a little coconut oil under my eyes before I go to sleep.

I noticed my circles are usually worst late at night… likely a product of staring too long at a computer screen. In the morning, I barely notice the problem so rest definitely helps for me.

Dr. Berg talks about dark circles in this video… offering possible causes and solutions. Hope it helps:

(Running from stupidity) #30

Do those solutions include buying his liquidised spinach, or somesuch?

#31

I’ve had them for years - can’t say I’m all that bothered by them. The dark circles & grey hairs are the only real points of interest on my otherwise generic scone :grin:

(Bunny) #32

Dark circles under eyes = gallbladders ability to produce enough bile to breakdown (sluggishness) the fat soluble form of Vitamin A (retinol) could be one reason? Grass fed butter, meat etc…

Here are some other things to narrow down other possible causes:

  1. Dark Circles Under the Eyes
  1. Losing Hair on a Keto & Intermittent Fasting Plan? THIS IS WHY…
  1. The Underlying Root Cause(s) of Your Hair Loss
  1. Best Remedy to Regrow Hair: MUST WATCH!
  1. Is Your Hair Loss Coming From Your Gut?
  1. Premature Gray Hair? Learn What Causes Gray Hair - Dr. Ben Lynch
  1. MSM (methylsulfonylmethane)===>Vitamin C===>Bone Broth = to bind keratin and collagen===>beautiful hair and nails! A. Peeling Nails B. Hair loss help C. Hair loss discovery D. Hair loss on keto?
  1. 10 Things to Increase Bile (from the Gallbladder)
(Carl Keller) #33

No, you simply have to listen his voice for 30-45 minutes. Then you fall asleep and your circles improve. :stuck_out_tongue:

(Coco Silk) #34

Any updates on the dark circles a year on? Have they settled down?

I’ve had dark circles for most of my life, which always look worse when I’m not getting enough sleep. I figure there must be some underlying health problem causing it. I’ve always had a bit of asthma and a few minor allergies - dust, cats, rockmelons (weird I know). Nothing too serious until I moved to a new location where there was a lot of rye grass pollen and my hayfever became really bad and I ended up having “thunderstorm” asthma (along with 9000 other people in the local area - several people died that day - my usual asthma medication wasn’t doing the job and since then, I have moved to a steroid puffer just in spring.)

Anyway, I always had a sweet tooth until my 3rd pregnancy at the age of 44 when I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. (Bubs is 7 months old now.) Since then I’ve been eating low carb, sometimes keto, sometimes trying to reintroduce carbs postpartum and while breastfeeding but blood sugars are not cooperating so I assume I’m prediabetic and have gone back to low carb.

Tried carnivore for a few days but keep going back to a salad here and there. Stopped drinking (goat’s and cow’s) milk a week or two ago and have been using a dash of coconut milk (canned) instead - that’s been a good crutch because I love milk.
My dark circles are still there but I’m not always getting enough sleep with a baby in the house.

My husband has a serious sinus problem and has had for many many years. He has really dark circles.

Our 5yo daughter has them now too, but I think it’s probably food intolerance because she has constipation quite often. I want to get her off wheat but it sneaks in when hubby feeds the kids - pasta, pancakes…

Has anyone moved from Keto to Carnivore and found their dark circles eventually went away?

I suspect milk might be problematic for me. I still eat cheese and make my own goat’s milk yoghurt. Cheese is a big one for slowing down the weight loss. Roasted macadamia nuts probably don’t help either because they are too addictive :crazy_face:

The only other thing that annoys me more recently are heart palpitations. I’d had them here and there throughout my life but since baby was born and since I went low carb, they have been really noticeable at night.
I did research some of the possible causes.

I increased salt. I tried potassium / salt (Lite Salt). I tried eating more foods containing potassium (some have too many carbs though).

I was always taking Magnesium so it didn’t seem to be that.

Now, bubs is 7 months old, still steals my sleep. I think it’s mostly to do with sleep deprivation.

I’ve been losing heaps of hair too but that happens after pregnancy, so after pregnancy plus, weight loss (only back to just where I was before this pregnancy - still want to lose at least 5kg) and keto - all 3 are probably making me lose hair.

Anyway, went off on a bit of a tangent there… ha ha

Not sure if this thread is even being revisited but if anyone does find their dark circles go away eventually on keto or carnivore, I’d love to know!

(Niki Dealey) #35

:sweat_smile: Happy you will be seeing a doctor.

Something I found while researching, is that magnesium deficiency may be causing the dark circles. If so, it could take a few months after you switch onto the keto diet.

Let me know if this helps or what you found out as to why you have dark circles please?

(Edith) #36

I was in the same boat. I got really bad palpitations and thought it couldn’t be magnesium since I had been taking it for years. It turns out the problem WAS magnesium deficiency. I had to up my dosage. I ended up taking about 800 mg/day for several months before the palpitations went away.

I believe oxalate containing foods were causing me to not absorb the Mg since oxalate binds with Mg. People tend to increase oxalates on keto because we eat a lot more nuts and greens.

(Coco Silk) #37

Ooh, good to know! Did you just experiment by taking more Magnesium? I heard it’s hard to test for magnesium deficiency. I think I was only taking about 300mg of mag citrate (2 tablets) per day. I’ll have to look at that.

I do also eat cocoa and macadamia nuts most days, which contains oxalates too, don’t they? I was eating spinach regularly until this past week where I have been more carnivore. Maybe it’s that for me too.

Is the recommended dose of magnesium around 300mg per day for women? I don’t want to take too much more while I am still breastfeeding. Maybe I should eat fewer oxalates as an experiment.

(Daisy) #38

I will say that although my dark circles (that I’ve had for over 20 years) are still there, they do seem to be slightly improving. I do usually take a lot of magnesium, though haven’t taken any for the last 3 days, as part of a self test I’m running.

(Edith) #39

I just kept increasing over the course of a week or two. I noticed improvement pretty quickly. The palpitations had gotten to the point of causing chest pain. The pains went away after a few days of upping my Mg. I used a combination of Mg glycinate which is supposedly more bioavailable and ReMag which is supposedly completely bioavailable. But, it took a few months for the palpitations to go away completely. I was also having anxiety at the time, which can also be from magnesium deficiency. That is gone now.

Once the palpitations stopped, I dropped down to 600 mg / day until just recently. On carnivore I’ve dropped down to 400 mg. I will be monitoring that closely. I also take citrical because I don’t eat dairy.

(Allie) #40

I already supplement magnesium well over 1000mg each day with Epsom salts baths on top of that. Over the years I’ve increased and decreased with with no noticeable changes.

(Ellenor Bjornsdottir) #41

You should look into cortisol levels. If they’re persistently far higher than normal, it could explain the rapid aging.

(Annalee Haley) #42

Good morning. Mag citrate is not well absorbed. You may try Mag Glycinate and get better results. I do agree that we are deficient in mag and it may take more to get your levels up.

(Ellenor Bjornsdottir) #43

Why not mixing unflavored milk of magnesia with unflavored sparkling water?

(Elian) #44

Tough to say. If you’re doing keto without expert supervision and monitoring you might end up healing some parts while damaging others in the long run, it’s true. Or it could simply be your genetics. I know I’ve had dark circles my whole life, even before starting keto. They’re hereditary in my case, so I’ve gotten so good at blending concealer you could swear it’s not even there. :stuck_out_tongue:

What you could do is ask your GP to order a CMP for you - Comprehensive Metabolic Panel. Each gram of carb holds four times the water in your body so when you’re doing keto without proper hydration and trace mineral support, water retention is decreased and skin tends to look thinner, particularly around the eyes can where it can create the appearance of even darker circles than usual. That test will tell you if your electrolyte levels are normal or if you have some adrenal fatigue which is another common cause of dark circles in some people.

(Jonathon melbourne) #45

I’m not sure how active this thread is. I’m super healthy, lean and my doctor’s are very proud of me. I’m 41 and look 30 however since starting Carnivore in April I look incredibly tired. I’ve never slept better or felt better however my eyes have dark purple colouring under and my skin is very dry. I eat lots of variety, bone broths, some organics strictly no oil no dairy no bacon nothing processed. I have regular blood tests for vitamin D, and 16 other items and all are great. What’s causing the black colouring? I have one coffee per day however I was having 6-8 coffees a day for 10 years before carnivore

(Bunny) #46

Check this out:

They also discuss dark circles (black coloring) under eyes that your talking about also!