Life is too short not to be fully "turned on." The Daily Turn On! energizes all aspects of "you." Every Monday The Daily Turn On! with That's Fit Life Fit expert Laura Lewis will provide you with ideas and tips to awaken your mind, your body and your life as you journey through each day of the week! Check in each Monday to get your tip for Turning On every day of your life.

There they were, staring me in the face...well, it was my face. I never had them before. Ever. Then, all of a sudden, as if overnight, I had these dark circles under my eyes. So, here I am thinking I must have aged over night! One would think with my health background that I might contemplate that it might actually be a health issue, but no! Here I was, with the "Vanity is thy name" behavior going on, attributing these new dark circles to getting older. Hmmm. Only when I visited Iva Peck, my acupuncturist in Dallas, who is also a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, did the light go "on" that it might be my kidneys! "Your kidneys are weak...are you tired all the time right now Laura?". "Why, yes I am" I replied. Iva gave me an acupuncture treatment, some herbs to help get my kidneys back up to speed and told me to try to rest, eat well and drink plenty of water. I guess I had been burning the candle at both ends trying to do too much, not paying attention to how much water I should be drinking and not eating enough in general. Yes, I am one of those people...when I work hard and am under stress, I just don't eat enough food. Hence, my nutrition was compromised and in turn, my body decided to give me a huge sign that all was not well on the inside!

Now, why didn't I think of kidneys and liver to begin with as the cause of my dark circles? After a few weeks of becoming very concious of drinking plenty of water, eating foods that stimulate my kidneys such as watermelon, my dark circles have been going away! Oh yes, sleeping has helped too!

Not all dark undereye circles are related to poor kidney function. Of course, after having this experience I have done quite a bit of research on the subject. Allergies, heredity, fatigue, rubbing your eyes, ill-fitting eyeglasses and sickness are all a few of the causes of those not so lovely dark half moons below your eyes! Here is an article if you would like more food for thought on this rather, ahem, "dark subject!". Oh, by the way, my dark undereye circles are going away! Word of advice...pay attention to those little signs which could mean bigger trouble. It was a great lesson for me to learn.