Cellulite – what to do?
When it comes to looks and appearance, cellulite is probably one of the worst issues to deal with. But exactly what is it, and why do women seem to suffer more from cellulite than men, and some women more than others? And are there any solutions available? Here you might find some answers to this problem.
cellulite is a build-up of fat around parts of the body that gives the skin an uneven and lumpy appearance. It is often called orange peel skin, resembling the look of skin being pinched. In general, cellulite is more commonly found on the hips, buttocks and legs, more than other parts of the body.
The difficult truth about cellulite is that it is made up of exactly the same kind of fat, or ‘adipose tissue’, as any other. Adipose tissue is a build-up of cells in the body that store any excess energy in the body as fat. When the blood is exposed to a high concentration of sugar for a very long time, coming from calories, the body stores this in adipose tissue.
Adipose tissue finds any available space in the connective tissue in the skin, resulting in skin looking like orange peel, which is probably the distinctive look everybody knows. Imagine stretching out a loosely knit sweater across a pat of soft butter. The butter will come squeezing through the various holes in between the strands of wool and you’ll get an effect very like cellulite in the body.
The way fat is stored in female and male bodies is completely different. In men, adipose tissue settles more around the waist and abdomen, as well as close to internal organs. Women however, tend to build up adipose tissue around hips and thighs, and this is more likely to create visible cellulite. With age, connective tissue in the skin becomes looser, resulting in more of adipose tissue finding a way through to the surface.
But enough of the science – how to get rid of cellulite? Using weight is the number one solution, and there are a couple of options to consider. Firstly, use up more energy than you put into your body as calories. Exercise helps, and does more than just use up energy. Regular aerobic exercise will increase your metabolic rate and make the body burn more energy. Exercise also tones up muscles. Our skin is partly made up of muscle fibers and tightening these up will help cellulite to become less obvious.
The second way to lose weight is to not allow our blood-sugar levels to rise too fast, and this means avoiding all those lovely things that we like to munch on. Cut down on foods that make blood-sugar go up very fast, like sugar itself, candies, chips, alcohol, processed white bread, rice and noodles. As the body needs blood with a high concentration of sugar to be able to store fat, it will be physically impossible to gain weight.
Massage and creams that hydrate the skin are also used often. T hese will have the effect of swelling the skin around the cellulite to temporarily reduce the lumpyness associated with it. They cannot replace a diet that is low in calories and sugar, and high in vegetable, fruit and protein intake. Remember that cellulite is body fat just like any other – diet and exercise is the only way to combat it.
January 29th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
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