The circles under my eyes are getting worse.  I am eating mostly compliant.  I think I get enough rest.. about 7.5 or 8 hours.  

Does anybody have any suggestion????

I've tentatively connected the coming and going of my own under-eye circles with overindulgence in sugars and dairy. I'm thinking dairy's the biggest culprit. Just some info from another O-nonnie. Good luck!

http://www.dadamo.com/forum/archive5/config.pl?read=11916
some believe those are caused by allergies.....

I followed that thread and it was good.  I am not eating beef much anymore, since it is neutral.  I am eating tons of turkey and lots of pineapple, almonds, walnuts and apricots.  I hate to give up my nuts.... sigh!

I am not eating as much lettuce, celery and yellow squash.  I eat no dariy.

I guess I will try to give up the nuts, at least the almonds.  I used to eat walnuts when I followed the O nonnie.

Meribelle,

Are you taking vitamins and minerals?  Is it possible that your body is lacking zinc which I heard can also cause the circles?

roller56

I can tell you that with NO DOUBT those dark circles are a combination of food allergies and your kidney function. My " B" daughter is very very allergic to wheat and dairy...dark circles her whole life!!!  Removed the allergins and it took over a year for the circles to get better..You may what to try kidney support as well.

http://www.dadamo.com/protocols/1.html
allergy control protocols

Are you sure you're getting enough sleep?  If you wake up tired and even out of breath, or you have dreams of asphyxiation, you might have sleep apnea.

A real good clue is if your partner clocks you over the head in the middle of the night for no reason and complains about your snoring.  

I always thought it was a liver thing.  I have them too and been concerned about them.  Sleep might be a contributor as I've only started sleeping fairly well in the last couple months. I still don't get those nights where you close your eyes and then open them and it's morning.  I got one of those a couple of weeks ago, but that is rare.  I still toss and turn some.  Some nights more, some less.  Lately I've been waking up sweating though.  Sorry to turn it into me.  Hopefully my post will help you too, in some way.  

Always thought that dark circles are connected with toxins in your system which ties in with the liver and kidney posts.
Ditto with cellulite.

Suffering from both myself, but am on a s**tload of medication for my colitis- so no surprises there...

Quoted from JJR

I always thought it was a liver thing.  I have them too and been concerned about them.  Sleep might be a contributor as I've only started sleeping fairly well in the last couple months. I still don't get those nights where you close your eyes and then open them and it's morning.  I got one of those a couple of weeks ago, but that is rare.  I still toss and turn some.  Some nights more, some less.  Lately I've been waking up sweating though.  Sorry to turn it into me.  Hopefully my post will help you too, in some way.  

Don't be sorry.  You have helped me.  I do not sleep well.  I toss and turn and wake up to go to the bathroom.  This weekend I dreamed about work the whole weekend.  I used to not bring it home in my head, but lately I have.     Do you think it could be the yerba mate tea I have started drinking?  Before I only drank green tea.  And I take a multi vitamin from Nature's Sunshine. They are a wonderful company on the internet or from dealers in your community.  I do not sell them, so I can give a commercial.  The O vitamins from NAP gave me terrible zits.  I can't handle zits!!!

Meribelle, you could always stop drinking it to see if it helps. I don't do anything caffeine and I only drink herbal teas.  I stopped drinking tea too late at night becuase I was getting up at night to go to the bathroom too.  That has stopped but I'm not sure if it was from not drinking tea at night.  Because I drink it, just not as late.  I don't know what yerba mate is.  Are you saying Nature's Sunshine is from around here?

YvonneB, do irish gals swear??????  hehehhehehhehehe.  I'm just teasing you.  Have you ever seen that movie "Amazing Grace" about William Willberforce?  He struggled with colitis and you may find it interesting to watch.  Even though he was an Englishman.  I'm not sure how all that works out over there.

http://www.dadamo.com/bloggers/ask/archives/00000266.htm
on YM

Lola, I wanted to try the Yerba Mate tea, but have a concern about caffiene.

roller56

Caffeine in Yerba Mate is debated.  Read about it at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerba_mate

Seems like some experts say it has mateine but not caffeine, others say it does have some caffeine.  

Quoted from yvonneb

Always thought that dark circles are connected with toxins in your system which ties in with the liver and kidney posts.
Ditto with cellulite.

Suffering from both myself, but am on a s**tload of medication for my colitis- so no surprises there...

One of the first things I noticed when changing from A BTD to GTD was a reduction in the dark rings. I am not totally compliant, but think that if I were,and all the toxins gone, the rings would be gone altogether. This is one of the many ways that compliance makes us look younger. A lovely guy I met recently who must have been out of it in the 60s and 70s, after a long conversation about mutual acquaintances and common memories, asked me if we had been lovers then. I said 'no' (I was not out of it ) and added that I am old enough to be his aunty.Talk about an ego booster.

perhaps this outweighs the 'caffeine' present in mate....
I do not have the same effect with it, as I do with coffee....
you might give it a try and see how it goes.

Quoted Text

polyphenol-rich Ilex paraguariensis (IP) extracts are capable
of inhibiting advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) formation and to compare the potency of these extracts with green tea and with the standard antiglycation agent aminoguanidine.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pu.....anel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
mate is packed with nutrients and anti-oxidants: vitamins A, C and E, for instance, and many of the vitamins in the B complex. It is rich in minerals – iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sulfur and silica among them.

I'm just stealing this thread to ask about my daughter... hope you don't mind!  

My daughter gets these black circles under her eyes and it gets worse when she goes through one of her vegetarian phases (it bugs me because she's not a good veggo - she hates tofu and lentils etc. so ends up eating no protein!). We don't know what blood type she is but she also has very weak and achey joints (ankles, knees, wrists, elbows) and I am wondering what it could be.

She had a tumour removed from her kidney just before her 3rd birthday (don't worry, it was benign) and I wonder if she's ever really recovered properly. What can I do to help her? She's nearly 12 now.

I feel your pain!
it is sad to watch our dear ones do damage to their system...
let me give you some advice, if by 12 she is already into her own 'phases'.....she seems to be pretty stubborn and is used to having her way, right?
there really is nothing to do but wait until she comes around and asks for help, because the more you advice, the less she ll listen!
all you can do is set an example and have her notice how healthy you become and how well you look and how positive your attitude is toward life!! all this will sink in with time, and she will have matured by then......
meanwhile you ll have plenty of time to find out her blood type and consequently her GT, cause she'll be ready to get her measurements right.....the more you let go, the closer she' ll get!! like cats in a way!

Hi Lola,

Do you think any particular foods/allergies could be causing the weakness in her joints and the bags under her eyes?

Yes, she is strong-willed (and, apart from being the baby of the family, being told she had cancer (and then told she didn't once they operated) has changed the way we treat her... it's been difficult!).

She has started eating free-range and organic meat because she, like me, is against the unethically harsh and nasty treamtment (and slaughter) of animals.

Next blood test she gets, I'm asking for her blood type. Considering she's either an A or an O (they get it from their parents, right?), I already know what foods she should be eating and which she should be avoiding!

no doubt about that!
take a closer look at the allergies book from the health series and try target that advice given for her particular BT and secretor type......hope she cooperates and wants to get rid of her dark circles.....that might be a great tool to motivate her to stay compliant.

Quoted Text

I am old enough to be his aunty.Talk about an ego booster.

makes you want to stick to whatever it is you are doing right, right?
nice work!

Quoted from grooviechickie

(it bugs me because she's not a good veggo - she hates tofu and lentils etc. so ends up eating no protein!)..

Did you try Quinoa yet- Its a complete protein that disguises as a grain

Quoted from Lola

all you can do is set an example and have her notice how healthy you become and how well you look and how positive your attitude is toward life!! !

Yeah, she is getting to that age where looking good is important- that old 'health' argument is not imminent enough for them, but 'looks' is a different thing altogether...

Quoted from yvonneb

Did you try Quinoa yet- Its a complete protein that disguises as a grain

I have tried quinoa but just thought it was a grain.  Thanks.

If you can get her off wheat, that would be an awesome breakthrough. That is one of the worst offenders in diet in general.
It's good to see quite a few Aussies posting. How did you all find this site?  I'm glad the BTD/GTD word is getting out.

There was an old-timer on this site from Tasmania called Taswulf & now Wulf, but we haven't heard from hom for a long time. I hope he's OK.

Cheerio!
Mrs "T"    O+    

PS I used to have dark circles, too, & they went away with dietary improvements, pre-BTD.