Why does more concentrated urine lead to water retention?

When your urine is more concentrated, it is a signal that your body is dehydrated and needs to hold onto water to avoid further dehydration. This can lead to water retention.

How does sodium lead to fluid retention in the body and face?

Sodium can cause fluid retention in the body because it draws water into cells and tissues. When this happens, excess fluid can build up in the body and cause bloating and puffiness, particularly in the face and neck.

How does collagen production impact the sharpness of my jawline?

Collagen is an important protein that helps keep skin firm and elastic. As you age, your collagen production naturally decreases, which can cause your skin to sag and your jawline to become less defined. By boosting your collagen production, you can help keep your skin firm and minimise sagging, which in turn can help maintain the sharpness of your jawline.

What are some ways to stimulate collagen production to help maintain a sharp jawline?

To stimulate collagen production, focus on getting enough vitamin C and consuming protein sources that contain the amino acids proline and glycine. Vitamin C is an essential nutrient for collagen synthesis, while proline and glycine are important building blocks of collagen. By including these nutrients in your diet, you can help support your body's natural collagen production and maintain the sharpness of your jawline.

What are some good sources of vitamin C and proline/glycine that can help boost collagen production?

Some good sources of vitamin C include citrus fruits, berries, kiwi, mango, papaya, and bell peppers. For proline and glycine, you can look for protein sources such as bone broth, chicken, fish, beef, pork, and dairy products. Vegetarian and vegan sources of proline and glycine include legumes, nuts, seeds, and tofu.

How can eating raw fruits and vegetables benefit my jaw muscles?

Eating raw fruits and vegetables that require a lot of chewing and breaking down can provide good exercise for your jaw muscles. By regularly consuming whole foods such as apples, carrots, corn, and nuts like almonds and walnuts, you can strengthen your jaw muscles and make them more defined.

Can jaw exercises also help strengthen my jaw muscles?

Yes, targeted jaw exercises can be another effective way to strengthen your jaw muscles and make them more defined. Examples of jaw exercises include chewing gum, clenching and unclenching your jaw, and pushing your chin forward and holding for a few seconds at a time. However, it's important to be cautious with jaw exercises and not overdo it, as excessive strain on the jaw can lead to pain and discomfort.

How does getting enough sleep help avoid a puffy/bloated face when waking up?

Getting a good night's sleep is essential for many aspects of health, including skin health. When you sleep, your body goes through various processes of repair and regeneration, including repairing damaged skin cells and regulating fluid balance. By getting enough sleep, you can help avoid fluid buildup in your face and reduce the risk of waking up with a puffy or bloated face.

Can sleeping too much also contribute to a puffy/bloated face?

While getting enough sleep is important for skin health, sleeping too much can actually have the opposite effect and contribute to a puffy or bloated face. Oversleeping can disrupt your body's natural rhythms and lead to fluid retention, especially in the face. It's generally recommended to aim for around 7-9 hours of sleep per night, depending on your individual needs.

What is essential body fat and why is it important?

Essential body fat is the minimum amount of body fat necessary for basic physical and physiological health. It includes fat stored in the bone marrow, internal organs, and muscles. Having too little essential body fat can be detrimental to overall health, and it can lead to various health problems.

Why do women need to have more essential body fat than men?

Women need to have more essential body fat than men because they have different reproductive and hormonal needs. Women need a certain amount of body fat to maintain regular menstrual cycles and to support a healthy pregnancy. The amount of essential body fat required for women is generally higher than that required for men.

How does age affect the amount of essential body fat required?

As we age, the amount of essential body fat required may increase. This is because as we get older, our metabolism slows down, and we tend to lose muscle mass. As a result, we may need more body fat to maintain overall health and well-being.

What is athlete-level lean?

Athlete-level lean refers to a level of leanness that is commonly seen in competitive athletes who engage in sports or activities that require a high level of physical fitness and low body fat. Athlete-level lean is typically defined as a body fat percentage of around 10-13% for men and 16-20% for women.

What are some potential health complications of dropping below 8% body fat for men and 14% for women?

Dropping below 8% body fat for men and 14% for women can lead to several health complications, including hormonal imbalances, a weakened immune system, reduced bone density, and impaired reproductive function. In extreme cases, it can also lead to organ failure and other serious health issues.

Is it necessary to achieve athlete-level lean body fat percentages to have a healthy and fit body?

No, it is not necessary to achieve athlete-level lean body fat percentages to have a healthy and fit body. Maintaining a healthy and balanced diet, engaging in regular exercise, and avoiding harmful habits such as smoking or excessive drinking are key components of a healthy lifestyle. It is important to focus on overall health and wellness rather than obsessing over achieving a specific body fat percentage or physical appearance.

Can exercise alone lower body fat percentage?

No, exercise alone is not enough to lower body fat percentage. A calorie deficit is required to lose body fat. However, exercise can help with weight loss by burning calories and increasing muscle mass, which can help with the calorie deficit. Strength training, in particular, is effective in building muscle mass and burning calories.

How often should I strength train to increase my muscle mass percentage?

To increase muscle mass percentage, it is recommended to strength train at least 2 to 3 times per week. However, it is important to allow for proper rest and recovery time between workouts to avoid injury and overtraining.

How does strength training help with burning calories?

Strength training helps with burning calories by increasing muscle mass, which in turn increases the body's basal metabolic rate (BMR). This means that the body burns more calories at rest, even when not exercising. Additionally, strength training can also help with the calorie deficit by burning calories during the workout itself.

Mewing is the practice of resting your tongue on the roof of your mouth. This practice is believed to help improve facial posture and reduce chin depth, resulting in a more defined jawline.

How does mewing help improve facial posture?

Mewing helps improve facial posture by encouraging the proper alignment of the jaw and tongue. By keeping the tongue in a resting position on the roof of the mouth, the muscles in the face are engaged and strengthened, which can help improve overall facial posture.

Is mewing a permanent solution for improving facial posture?

No, mewing is not a permanent solution for improving facial posture. Just like sitting upright, it is an action that needs to be consciously practiced to maintain the benefits. However, the longer and more consistently you practice mewing, the more natural it will feel and your facial posture will continue to improve.

Are there any risks associated with mewing?

There are no known risks associated with mewing. However, it is important to note that mewing alone is unlikely to provide significant results. It should be combined with other lifestyle changes, such as proper nutrition, exercise, and good sleep habits, to achieve the best results.

How can facial massages help improve the jawline?

Facial massages can help improve the jawline by tightening the skin and providing a lifting effect on the cheeks. This can help reduce facial sagging and improve the overall appearance of the jawline.

What is the proper technique for giving yourself a facial massage?

When applying your facial moisturizer and antioxidant serum, move your fingers underneath your cheekbones and along the sides of your jaw in a circular motion. This can help stimulate blood flow, improve lymphatic drainage, and improve the tone and texture of the skin.

How to Get a Sharper Jawline

Evidence-based. Credit goes to all researchers

Achieve a sharp jawline with diet, hydration, and quality sleep. Learn how to reduce body fat and define your jaw for a chiseled look.

1. Hydrate! Hydrate! Hydrate! 💦

Drink water to help with renal salt excretion and prevent water retention in your face.

The more concentrated your urine the more amount of water your body holds onto (water retention), this may be due to our brain telling our body to go into survival mode (Hahn, 2020). Aim to drink 2- 3 litres of water daily.

An easy way to tell if you are hydrated is if your pee is light yellow.

Keynote

Drink 2- 3 litres of water a day to help with renal salt excretion and prevent water retention. Your pee should be light yellow.

2. Increase Protein, Chew Gum and Reduce Salt 🍎

Your diet should consist of fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, lean meats, fatty fish and using olive oil for cooking.

Diet for Jawline	Sources/what to get
Green tea Polyphenols	Matcha (Green tea)
Gum	Sugar-free gum or dental gum containing xylitol
Hard To Chew foods	Almonds, Apples, Carrots Corn, Pumpkin seeds, Walnuts
Potassium	Potatoes, Beets, Spinach, Kale, Tomatoes, Salmon, Oranges, Bananas, Avocados, Plain Yogurt
Protein (proline/glycine)	Chicken breast, eggs
Vitamin C	Kale, Brocolli, Strawberries, Blackcurrent, Kiwi, Lemons, Oranges

Matcha

Drinking matcha can act as a diuretic helping your body get rid of excess sodium and water (making you pee more) reducing a puffy/bloated face (Zhao et al., 2022).

Does chewing gum help you get a jawline?

Chewing gum can exercise your jaw muscles and make them more defined if you do it regularly enough. As with everything you don’t want to overdo it by chewing large amounts of gums daily. Choose ones with no sugar or dental gum that contains xylitol which can reduce plaque and caries (tooth decay) and so improve your dental health (Burt, 2006; Söderling & Pienihäkkinen, 2021).

Chew hard food

Eating food that is hard and needs to be chewed and broken down such as raw fruits and vegetables is good exercise for your jaw muscles (Inoue et al., 2019; Silvester et al., 2021).

Examples include whole apples, carrots, corn, nuts like almonds, walnuts and seeds like pumpkin seeds. Eating these whole foods regularly will strengthen your jaw muscles and make them more defined.

Protein heavy

Your diet should have minimal carbs or only the healthiest carbs such as quinoa or oats. Focus on high-quality lean protein sources such as chicken breast and fatty fish.

This is because refined Carbs make you hungrier faster and make you less full, whereas protein can make you feel fuller for longer (satiating effect) and is vital in maintaining/increasing muscle mass and decreasing fat levels (Kim, 2021). Most carbs are also inflammatory and are refined like bread and pasta.

Salt

Sodium leads to fluid retention in your body and in your face and neck, making you look bloated and puffy (Pereira et al., 2019; Rakova et al., 2017; Van Regenmortel et al., 2022; Zeidel, 2017). Minimise salty foods and don’t add any salt or only add a very little amount when preparing meals.

Potassium inverses sodium, so consume more potassium (Groenland et al., 2022; Pereira et al., 2019).

Collagen

Boosting your collagen production can help keep your skin firm and minimise sagging as you age, this will keep your jawline sharper. To stimulate collagen production focus on vitamin C and protein sources containing the amino acids proline and glycine (DePhillipo et al., 2018; Holwerda & van Loon, 2022).

Keynote

Minimise carbs and salts and focus on a protein-heavy diet and potassium. Chew sugar-free or dental gum and hard-to-chew foods to exercise jaw muscles. To boost collagen production have vitamin c, proline and glycine. Having matcha can have a diuretic effect.

3. Sleeping Your Way to a Chiseled Jawline 😴

Get 8 hours of good quality sleep a night, to avoid a puffy/bloated face when waking up (Sundelin et al., 2013).

Keynote

Sleep 8 hours a day to reduce waking up to a puffy bloated face.

4. Reduce Your Body Fat for a Sharp Jawline ⚖️

Only by increasing our muscle mass and reducing our body fat percentage will neck, chin, face and stomach fat lessen. This can only be achieved through a protein-heavy diet and especially being in a calorie deficit (burning more calories in a day than you consume) (Kim, 2021; Strasser et al., 2007).

You can’t spot reduce/target body fat in a specific area, only by losing body fat overall, will those places reduce in size. Your body stores fat in specific areas, and it is different for everyone.

To be lean it depends on your gender and age. Women need to have more essential body fat than men for them to be healthy and the older you are the more essential fat your need too.

Gender	Essential body fat %	Athlete level lean body fat %
Men	Above 8%	10 – 13%
Women	Above 14%	16 – 20%

To be considered athlete-level lean and have a defined jawline you would need to have body fat of around 10 – 13% for men and 16 – 20% for women.

Dropping below 8% for men and 14% for women can cause health complications. The good thing is that it is really hard to maintain a very low body fat so unless you are really trying you don’t need to worry about hitting those very low numbers.

Body fat scale

Investing in a body fat scale can help you track your current body fat and muscle mass percentage and help you track your progress.

Bear in mind that body fat scales are not perfectly accurate but are generally accurate to within 1-2%. Although they may not be as accurate +-2% they can still show you that you are making progress until you hit your ideal body fat (lean) stage.

Nutrition tracker app

Using an app like myfitnesspal can help you track your nutrition and more importantly your calorie intake for the day.

As long as you know what to eat and how much to eat, you can always maintain a calorie deficit to counter the days you might have had an excess of calories, such as by eating junk foods like noodles or pizza.

Exercise

Exercise by itself won’t lower your body fat as mentioned before. A calorie deficit is the only way.

Exercise by strength training (high weight, low reps) at least 2 to 3 times a week can help increase your muscle mass percentage across all age groups and help with the calorie deficit by burning calories (Westcott, 2015).

A study done with 1600 participants aged from 21 to 80 showed a 1.36kg increase in lean muscle mass after 10 weeks of strength training. A follow-up study showed twice as much lean muscle gain after 9 months of resistance exercise (pushing or pulling against something with resistance, like a resistance band) (Westcott, 2015).

If you do strength training and are on a calorie surplus it’s called “bulking” whereas if you are in a calorie deficit and use exercise to help get leaner is called being on a “cut”. Don’t make the mistake of bulking by eating unhealthy food, also called “dirty bulk.’

Keynote

Reducing your body fat has by far the biggest effect in making your jawline sharper, and this can only be achieved through an optimal nutritional diet and a calorie deficit. Aim to hit between 10% and 13% body fat if you are a man and between 16% and 20% if are a woman. A body fat scale can help measure your body fat progress. A nutrition app can help track your nutrition and calories. Exercising either through strength training or resistance exercise, 2 or 3 times a week can help with increasing muscle mass across all age groups and burn calories.

5. Mewing, Smiling, Shaving, and More for a Defined Jawline💈

Mewing

Mewing is the action of resting your tongue on the roof of your mouth (Lee et al., 2019). It may make your facial posture look better from the side by reducing your chin depth.

If you make the habit of always doing this, your facial posture will look better. Just like sitting upright, it is an action and something that is not permanent. Although the longer and more you do it, the more natural it will feel and your facial posture will always look good.

Smiling

Practising smiling while mewing is a great way to exercise your jaw muscles, it is also a mood booster (Okamoto et al., 2021).

Shaving/Maintaining Beard

Clean shave or maintain your beard/stubble. If you can’t maintain your beard/stubble and it is patchy, clean shave.

Haircut

Your haircut can make your jaw and face more defined, switch up your hairstyle until you find one that suits your face and facial hair. Usually, a buzz cut works well with a well-maintained beard and fluffy hair works well clean-shaven.

Massaging

Facial massages can help with facial sagging and have a lifting effect on cheeks and so improve your jawline by making skin tighter (Okuda et al., 2022).

When applying your facial moisturiser and antioxidant serum, move your fingers through under your cheekbones and the sides of your jaw and move in a circulation motion.

Keynote

Other things you can do to improve your jawline include mewing which is resting your tongue on the roof of your mouth, smiling more often, either clean shaving your beard or maintaining it, finding a haircut that suits your face and facial hair and lastly massaging your face daily with a moisturiser and antioxidant serum.

Action to take ✍️

Drink 2- 3 litres of water a day.
Minimise carbs and salts and focus on a protein-heavy diet and potassium.
Chew sugar-free or dental gum and hard-to-chew foods.
Have vitamin c, proline and glycine.
Drink matcha.
Sleep 8 hours a day.
Have an optimal nutritional, protein-heavy diet with a calorie deficit.
Hit between 10 – 13% body fat if you are a man.
Hit between 16 – 20% body fat if you are a women.
Use a body fat scale and a nutrition tracker app.
Exercise either through strength training or resistance exercise, 2 or 3 times a week.
Make the habit of mewing
Smile more often.
Either clean shave your beard or maintain it.
Find a haircut that suits your face and facial hair
Massage your face daily with a moisturiser.

References 🤓

Burt, B. A. (2006, February). The use of sorbitol- and xylitol-sweetened chewing gum in caries control. The Journal of the American Dental Association, 137(2), 190–196. https://doi.org/10.14219/jada.archive.2006.0144

DePhillipo, N. N., Aman, Z. S., Kennedy, M. I., Begley, J., Moatshe, G., & LaPrade, R. F. (2018). Efficacy of Vitamin C Supplementation on Collagen Synthesis and Oxidative Stress After Musculoskeletal Injuries: A Systematic Review. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 6(10), 232596711880454. https://doi.org/10.1177/2325967118804544

Groenland, E. H., Vendeville, J. P., Bots, M. L., de Borst, G. J., Nathoe, H. M., Ruigrok, Y. M., Blankestijn, P. J., Visseren, F. L. J., & Spiering, W. (2022). The relation between urinary sodium and potassium excretion and risk of cardiovascular events and mortality in patients with cardiovascular disease. PLOS ONE, 17(3), e0265429. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265429

Hahn, R. G. (2020). Effects of diet, habitual water intake and increased hydration on body fluid volumes and urinary analysis of renal fluid retention in healthy volunteers. European Journal of Nutrition, 60(2), 691–702. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-020-02275-4

Holwerda, A. M., & van Loon, L. J. C. (2022). The impact of collagen protein ingestion on musculoskeletal connective tissue remodeling: a narrative review. Nutrition Reviews, 80(6), 1497–1514. https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuab083

Inoue, M., Ono, T., Kameo, Y., Sasaki, F., Ono, T., Adachi, T., & Nakashima, T. (2019). Forceful mastication activates osteocytes and builds a stout jawbone. Scientific Reports, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-40463-3

Kim, J. Y. (2021). Optimal Diet Strategies for Weight Loss and Weight Loss Maintenance. Journal of Obesity &Amp; Metabolic Syndrome, 30(1), 20–31. https://doi.org/10.7570/jomes20065

Lee, U. K., Graves, L. L., & Friedlander, A. H. (2019). Mewing: Social Media’s Alternative to Orthognathic Surgery? Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 77(9), 1743–1744. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joms.2019.03.024

Okamoto, R., Manabe, T., & Mizukami, K. (2021). Effects of Facial Muscles Exercise on Mental Health: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(22), 12216. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182212216

Okuda, I., Takeda, M., Taira, M., Kobayashi, T., Inomata, K., & Yoshioka, N. (2022). Objective analysis of the effectiveness of facial massage using breakthrough computed tomographic technology: A preliminary pilot study. Skin Research and Technology, 28(3), 472–479. https://doi.org/10.1111/srt.13152

Pereira, T. S. S., Mill, J. G., Griep, R. H., Sichieri, R., & Molina, M. D. C. B. (2019). Effect of urinary sodium-to-potassium ratio change on blood pressure in participants of the longitudinal health of adults study – ELSA-Brasil. Medicine, 98(28), e16278. https://doi.org/10.1097/md.0000000000016278

Rakova, N., Kitada, K., Lerchl, K., Dahlmann, A., Birukov, A., Daub, S., Kopp, C., Pedchenko, T., Zhang, Y., Beck, L., Johannes, B., Marton, A., Müller, D. N., Rauh, M., Luft, F. C., & Titze, J. (2017). Increased salt consumption induces body water conservation and decreases fluid intake. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 127(5), 1932–1943. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci88530

Silvester, C. M., Kullmer, O., & Hillson, S. (2021). A dental revolution: The association between occlusion and chewing behaviour. PLOS ONE, 16(12), e0261404. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261404

Söderling, E., & Pienihäkkinen, K. (2021, October 22). Effects of xylitol chewing gum and candies on the accumulation of dental plaque: a systematic review. Clinical Oral Investigations, 26(1), 119–129. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-021-04225-8

Strasser, B., Spreitzer, A., & Haber, P. (2007). Fat Loss Depends on Energy Deficit Only, Independently of the Method for Weight Loss. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 51(5), 428–432. https://doi.org/10.1159/000111162

Sundelin, T., Lekander, M., Kecklund, G., Van Someren, E. J. W., Olsson, A., & Axelsson, J. (2013). Cues of Fatigue: Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Facial Appearance. Sleep, 36(9), 1355–1360. https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.2964

Van Regenmortel, N., Langer, T., De Weerdt, T., Roelant, E., Malbrain, M., Van den Wyngaert, T., & Jorens, P. (2022). Effect of sodium administration on fluid balance and sodium balance in health and the perioperative setting. Extended summary with additional insights from the MIHMoSA and TOPMAST studies. Journal of Critical Care, 67, 157–165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrc.2021.10.022

Westcott, W. L. (2015). BUILD MUSCLE, IMPROVE HEALTH. ACSM’S Health &Amp; Fitness Journal, 19(4), 22–27. https://doi.org/10.1249/fit.0000000000000134

Zeidel, M. L. (2017). Salt and water: not so simple. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 127(5), 1625–1626. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci94004

Zhao, T., Li, C., Wang, S., & Song, X. (2022). Green Tea (Camellia sinensis): A Review of Its Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, and Toxicology. Molecules, 27(12), 3909. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27123909

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How to Get a Sharper Jawline

1. Hydrate! Hydrate! Hydrate! 💦