Five Foods that May Make You Look Tired
How have you been looking lately? Have people been telling you or have you noticed that you’re looking more tired than usual? Do you think you’ve been eating well?
It’s possible that you’ve been sabotaging your own beauty without knowing it by eating foods that are making you look tired.
Read more here: 7 Reasons Why You Are Feeling Tired
You may have assumed that working too much or not getting enough sleep were your worst enemies. However, your diet is the major determining factor in looking your best.
That’s why we decided to talk about the five foods that may make you look the most tired. Take a look at this list and try to exclude at least one of them out of your regular diet.
1. Fried foods
Fried foods are one of the most common culprits. Unfortunately, they’re also one of the most accessible. From movie theater popcorn to your mom’s famous chicken, fried foods are always around.
No matter what they are, fried foods contain trans fats and oils which, once ingested, slow you down. This makes your body need to consume more energy in order to process the food.
In addition, they’re one of the main causes of artery obstruction and obesity. As if that wasn’t enough, consuming too much vegetable oil may directly affect your face. Here’s how:
- It breaks down the collagen in your skin.
- Also, it dries out your skin, even if you’re drinking enough water.
- It encourages pimples and blackheads.
2. Coffee
We know it sounds rather contradictory to say coffee is a food that can make you look more tired because it’s widely known as a great energy booster. But have you ever wondered what this energy boost means?
It turns out that caffeine has its pros and its cons. For example, it’s useful to have a cup of coffee an hour before working out because it may help your body get going and burn more calories.
On the other hand, excessive caffeine makes your body constantly be working even when it’s out of resources. This means losing sleep when you have coffee without working out afterward or if you have it at night. This can lead to:
- Under-eye bags.
- Fatigue.
- Stress.
Caffeine also dehydrates you, so if you don’t drink enough water in the hours after having coffee, you’ll experience:
- Dehydration.
- Sluggishness.
- Lack of energy.
3. Really spicy foods
Overly-spicy foods can also make you look tired because they can cause skin blotches or skin tone changes.
This happens because the spiciness affects your blood system and triggers the symptoms mentioned above.
As if that weren’t enough, excessively spicy foods also dilate your veins and make them bigger. Why is this bad? Big veins are more visible on your skin. It can also sometimes make you look bloated or swollen.
4. Alcohol
Just like fried foods, you can give up alcohol without interfering with your lifestyle.
However, if you don’t want to give it up entirely because you enjoy a few drinks at social gatherings, you should be aware that alcohol is on the list of foods that may make you look tired.
Alcohol and coffee have some common effects, most notably dehydration.
- The problem with alcohol is that the dehydration is worse and it’s very easy to lose track of how much you’re drinking.
- Consider that you might have 2 or 3 cups of coffee over the course of a day, but you might drink 5 or so beers at a social get-together.
- To make up for the dehydration, drink two cups of water for every alcoholic drink.
5. Carbohydrates may make you look tired
How many and what kind of carbohydrates do you have per day? Many people have decided to give up carbs completely because they think they’re bad.
If you’re one of these people, you should know that that’s not true. There are some carbohydrates that you actually should eat because of how much energy they can give you, like legumes.
On the other hand, the carbs that you should eliminate are the ones that make you look tired and only contain empty calories, such as refined flour and sugar.
Empty carbohydrates make you look tired because they’re hard for your body to digest and require a lot of energy to process. If you’ve ever gotten sleepy after eating a plate of pasta, that’s why.
We recommend: Vegetarian Recipes to Replace Pasta, Rice, and Potatoes
What should I eat instead of these foods?
The best trick to keep from looking tired from eating these foods is to always have healthy food on hand.
Instead of carbohydrates, overly spicy foods, or fried foods, you should eat:
- Fruit.
- Nuts.
- Seeds.
- Vegetables.
As for replacing coffee and alcohol, there’s nothing better than water. If you don’t like drinking water on its own, try green tea, herbal teas, or smoothies.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
Deshidratación por consumo de bebidas alcohólicas. (2016), 1744, 2016.
Augusto Ramírez-Montes1, C., & Osorio2, J. H. (2013). Uso de la cafeína en el ejercicio físico: ventajas y riesgos Using caffeine for physical exercise: advantages and risks. Rev. Fac. Med, 61(4), 459.
