You’ve had a good night’s sleep, but you still wake up in the morning with undereye bags and wonder why. Well, apart from lack of sleep, food that you eat and savor can also be the culprit.

Foods that give you puffy eyes

, © Vikramjit Kakati / Wikimedia Commons, © CC BY-SA 4.0

Sugar is one of the most inflammatory foods imaginable. It causes inflammation all over the body, but around the eyes it is most visible because the skin there is thin and prone to swelling. Also, limiting sugar or completely avoiding it has many other health benefits. Artificial sugar or sweeteners are also equally dangerous when it comes to causing bloating.

Just like tomatoes, chili peppers are also from the nightshade family. But apart from solanine, they also contain a compound called capsaicin which can cause tissues to get burned and inflamed. And this inflammation can easily occur around your eyes.

Foods that prevent puffy eyes

© Aziz1005 / Wikimedia Commons, © Bodhi Peace / Wikimedia Commons, © CC BY-SA 4.0

Parsley helps the kidneys in flushing out excess fluids from the body. So if you are regularly getting puffy eyes in the morning, try to include this in your meal.

If eye bags are a regular problem for you, start eating oatmeal for breakfast. One reason for puffy eyes can be constipation. Oats are rich in fiber and help ease bowel movements, thereby reducing puffiness.

© B.navez / Wikimedia Commons, © CC BY-SA 2.5, © ftzdomino / flickr, © CC BY 2.0

Rather than eating them, avocados can help remove eye puffiness by applying them externally. Cut slices of the fruit, place them over your eyes, and leave them there for about 10 minutes. Dark circles can be caused by a deficiency in vitamin K and avocados are rich in this. Just one ounce of avocado contains 8 percent of the daily recommended value of vitamin K. Avocados are also helpful in removing dark circles.

Putting chilled cucumber slices over your eyes is a great way to refresh your tired eyes and remove eye bags too. Leave the slices there for about 15 minutes, and Voila! your eye bags should have disappeared and your eyes will feel a lot fresher.

Please note: This article was updated in April 2023 to correct source material and factual inaccuracies.Illustrated by Leonid Khan for Bright Side4