I find two things have given me puffy eyes in the past:

1. Just not sleeping enough. Around six hours will give me puffy eyes. I aim for 9.5 hours.

2. If I eat a lot of salt, and or drink a lot. In other words, if my body retains water I feel like it shows in my eyes, and in my face in general. Some people actually call this carb-face. I dont know about that but for me personally the water retention shows in the face and yes inn the eyes.

Once in a blue moon, one of my eyelids gets a bit infected inside. The lid puffs up and is sore. After a few days, it goes away on its own. It's one of the few things that still happens to me even on paleo. I have not identified any food related causes or any other correlations with my lifestyle, so beats me. I've known other people who get that as well. Maybe some crap just got in my eye and caused problems! Not everything is food related, although I do suspect a lot of things are.

Don't know if you wear contacts, but I developed a reaction over time to the proteins that build up on the lens. Even though I take them out before bed, my eyes were irritated in the morning. It was more itchiness and redness around the eyelids than puffiness though. Anyway, I alternate between daily disposable lenses and glasses now.

i always notice when my face is looking thinner- when i've being IF-ing. and if i tend to eat on the heavier side, i wake up puffier in the morning. but it's all temporary, as the water retention tends to even out by the afternoon. it's probably just sleepy face.

alot of people will point to salt, but i find that it isn't a problem for me. try it yourself and see- sometimes you will find out that your n-1 experience is different than 'the norm.' i too thought cutting back on salt would help, but i can eat salty foods freely and not swell up, whereas i might be trying to do low-salt (aka potassium-rich fruits and vegetables) and then i just get carb-face. yeah, watch out for carb-face too. when some people binge or 'cheat' and eat their carbs freely after a restriction period, u can really see it in their face

bump.... i need some swollen eye help.

the past week or so my under eyes and eye lids have been incredibly, i mean INCREDIBLY swollen and puffy when i wake up.

• i dont eat dairy
• i eat plenty of fat/starch/protein
• i do wake up and pee at night, and i do need more sleep

but sleep aside, this is ridiculous as i am not really feeling lacking in sleep but my eyes...geeez. as far as i know i drink plenty of water, the salt i do use is mineral sea salt and i dont think its anything excessive and i do get good amounts of potassium.

when i go VLC i get circles under my eyes so i dont really wanna go back to that but it seems to work to get rid of the puff-swell i have trying to eat 'balanced'

Maybe you should look at the products you use on your hair or your skin? Or laundry soap? After many years one day I became allergic to benzoyl peroxide (sp?) and my face and eyelids would blow up like a balloon. Since then, there are certain substances that god forbid if I get on my fingertips, even if I wash, if I touch my face, forget it, my eyelids puff right up. Maybe as you are getting older you are becoming more sensitive to chemicals or ingredients in skin-hair care, that you didn't used to be.

I too am curious about puffy upper eyes. It seems to be on the evenings I have an ice cream after tea but I also then crink loads and loads of water afte the ice cream (Think its my way of subconciously diluting the ice cream so its not so bad for me?). The question is: is the puffy eyes due to the ice cream or is it too much water?

Very likely to be, Fluid retention, hormonal variations with menstruation can lead to the retention of fluid, particularly in the subcutaneous tissues. These conditions can cause swelling around the eyes to be more prominent. Oversleeping/sleep deprivation - Interrupted sleep cycles are common causes of eye puffiness.

Eye puffiness may also be caused by: Diet - Excess salt encourages fluid retention and may lead to puffy eyes. Alcohol and tobacco use - Alcohol and tobacco contain toxins that may lead to stress, fatigue, and hormonal changes; all of which may lead to fluid retention and swelling around the eyes. Allergies - Allergic reactions can lead to leaks in the subcutaneous capillary beds which can cause swelling in the face, including around the eyes. Skin disorders - Eye puffiness can be a side effect of certain skin disorders, such as dermatitis, if the affected area becomes very sensitive, leading to swelling. Crying - The salt in tears may cause fluid retention in the eye area. Hypothyroidism - Facial puffiness and periorbital swelling occur due to inflitration with the mucopolysaccharides hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfate, pulling fluid into the interstitial space by osmosis. Periorbital cellulitis - An inflammation and infection of the eyelid and portions of skin around the eye. Chagas disease - Also known as American trypanosomiasis. Young patients, often in an acute phase of the disease, manifest Romañia's sign: unilateral, painless, periorbital edema. Mononucleosis - With supra-orbital oedema, the eyes become puffy and swollen. This may occur in the early stages of infection.

I would just like to chime in for those who one day wake up with a puffy eyelid and search on here for any explanation (like I did) and confirm a few things that others have already said.

My lower right eyelid feels like there's sweat in it, or like I haven't wiped the "sleep" out of my eyes yet. It's noticeably puffier compared to my other eye and is a little sore (so I'm not sure if it's just irritated or has a little infection yet). However, I did eat a meal yesterday evening that had WAY too much salt in it (like burning your taste buds off too much), just started my period, and have only been getting 7-7.5 hours of sleep for the past month. So I might be retaining water, although this hasn't happened to me before.

Another note, my boss a couple months ago got a face infection, and the first thing that happened to him was his eyes got puffy. My immune system is a lot stronger than his, so I'm not too worried, although that crossed my mind and I'm hoping that isn't somehow it.

I'll update in a couple days to confirm what it is. :)