So why is it that you have puffy eyes? For sure, you want to get to the bottom of it because you do not want to use up another stick of concealer ever again. Mainly, the cause of puffy eyes is fluid retention (or mild oedema) which is common and most of the time usually harmless. However, puffy eyes can also be caused by deeper reasons. The good news is, the more watchful we are of little things that our body might be telling us, the more that we can do to prevent it. Here are some of the reasons we may have puffy eyes:
1. Too much intake of sodium
As reported by Medical News Today, having too much salt in our body causes oedema or swelling. To balance this out, we need to drink enough water and limit our salt intake. If we have a lot of sodium and not enough water, our body holds on to excess fluid to prevent dehydration, which causes puffy eyes. Puffy eyes caused by too much sodium are easy to get because high levels of sodium are always within our reach. Most of our sodium intake comes from processed foods such as microwaveable meals, bread, bacon, and drinks. The fewer processed foods we eat, the lower our sodium intake. According to the Center for Disease and Control Prevention, sodium is very accessible in food products such as pizza, breads and rolls, poultry, soups, cheese, etc. So be careful and make sure that you choose the unprocessed and low sodium varieties for your food choices. Let us lessen sodium intake and always drink lots of water.
2. Lack of protein
According to the Harvard Medical School, lack of protein in the blood — which can be caused by malnutrition, kidney and liver disease — causes swelling in our body. The Kidney Fund says that this is due to low albumin (which is a protein) in our blood. The albumin’s job is to get rid of extra fluid. So make sure that you eat a healthy diet so that your body can produce all the albumin it needs.
3. Bad kidney function
Puffiness around the eyes, especially in the morning, may be a sign of kidney disease. How does bad kidney function show up in puffy eyes? According to the Medical News Today, it is because the kidneys might not be eliminating enough sodium in the blood. As mentioned above, too much sodium causes oedema. Kidneys can also let albumin leave the body, causing yet more issues with extra fluid. According to the National Kidney Foundation, other symptoms of a chronic kidney disease include nausea, feeling tired, vomiting, swollen feet and ankles, lack of appetite, dry and itchy skin, pain in the back and pain in urinating. So if you have some or all of these together with puffy eyes, please go see a doctor to get tested for kidney disease.
4. Eating too many carbohydrates
A study for the National Institute of Health showed that a high carbohydrate diet results in more insulin secretion and sodium retention. And the more sodium in our bodies, the more water retention we have. Staying away from processed food and carbohydrates will give us a lower chance of getting oedema. The American Heart Association recommends getting carbohydrates in as natural a form as possible — like getting carbohydrates from potatoes instead of bread. We are what we eat, and what we eat affects how we look and how we feel. Little things in our appearance can signal a lack or an excess of something in our bodies. The good thing is, we are in control of what we eat. So let us watch for signals that our bodies are sending us because this is the first part of taking care of our bodies. Featured photo credit: Ryan McGuire via gratisography.com
