Baggy eyelids and under eye area.

Baggy eyelids and bags under our eyes is the result of fat from our eyes leaking out. You would think that there is surgery to remove this fat, but often surgeons do not remove this fat.

So how can we remove it ourselves?

First a lesson on fat.

Fat doesn't dissolve in water because water is polar (a water molecule has regions of positive charge and regions of negative charge), and fat isn't. The water molecules prefer to cling together, with negative parts of one molecule near positive parts of another, rather than cling to the non-polar fat, so it doesn't dissolve. Soap molecules have long, non-polar chains that can stick into droplets of fat, and a polar bit stuck onto the non-polar chain. What happens is that a fat droplet gets covered in soap molecules with the non-polar chains stuck into the droplet and the polar heads on the surface, like pins stuck into a ball. The water can then cling to the polar parts of the soap molecules on the surface of the fat droplet and dissolve it.

Now a possible solution.

Seeds are coated with a bitter substance called saponins, which prevents it, being eaten by birds. These saponins can be easily removed by soaking the seed in water. Quinola for example will produce soapy water if left to soak. Saponins although toxic are natures soap. For example soap nuts.

Quantitative thin layer chromatography was used to estimate the saponin content of 20 common food plants and also of foods prepared from some of them. The food plants found to be richest in saponins were chickpeas, soya beans, alfalfa), sprouts and varieties of beans (navy beans, haricot beans, kidney beans) and asparagus. Processing or cooking does not destroy saponins. They are present in falafels (prepared from chickpeas), canned baked beans, canned broad beans and protein isolate from faba beans.

So here is a suggestion.

Incorporate these foods into our diet and see if they dissolve away the excess fat. Although a soya based eye cream might do the job better.

12/11/2008

Lucinda Ball