Today we take on the 3 syllable word that has terrorized women of all ages since the introduction of the Equal Rights Amendment, that or the moment hairy legs got out of style – I forget. Cellulite. Yes I know, I am attempting to tackle a very perilous subject that has witnessed the lynching of many other brave and selfless authors as myself. Yet here I shall stand until my female counterparts get through their relatively thick skulls the actual cellulite causes and treatment.
Cellulite, my dear members of the beautiful sex, is a problem that affects 85% of women over the age of 20, regardless of their body weight. It occurs mainly on the thighs, buttocks, and abdomen and is characterized by orange peel or cottage cheese appearance. Although cellulite is often present in healthy non-obese people, it is exacerbated by overweight.
Skin : the evil mastermind behind cellulite causes and treatment
Cellulite is nothing other than fat. The reason why the dimpling effect appears almost exclusively on women is due to the structural difference in fat tissue arrangement compared to men. Underneath our skin the pockets of fat are kept in order by a matrix of connective tissue. The connective tissue anchor the fat pockets downwards to our muscles and upwards to our skin.
Aging and female hormones lead to reduced skin elasticity and thickness causing these fat pockets to pop out of place. The alternation between more and less elastic skin areas will cause the fat tissue architecture underneath to become disordered, and hence the dimpling effect.
It is by no means a “fat-person’s” struggle, we all have fat tissue in our bodies that gives us ladies those much desired curves. Staying competitively attractive in this day and age is no easy feat, let a alone an inexpensive one. There are plenty of companies out there promising to elucidate the mysteries behind cellulite causes and treatment, while offering a wide variety of “cures” ranging from topically applied products and massages to laser and intense pulsed light treatment among others.
All of which I regret to inform you dearest readers, have little to no effect. Most of the treatments concentrate their effort on getting rid of the fatty tissue, though as I’ve explained earlier, it is not the only underlying cause.
A new perspective
Let’s get behind the science of cellulite causes and treatment. A most interesting study I have come across recently decided to take a different approach. It caught my eye as the researchers were attempting to treat cellulite by improving the quality of the skin and underlying connective tissue.
In the December of 2015 a group of medical researchers published a placebo controlled, double-blind clinical study in the Journal of Medical Food. The study looked to investigate specific bioactive collagen peptides and their efficiency in the treatment of cellulite in overweight and normal women. Over the course of 6 months, a total of 105 women, with ages between 24 and 50 years with moderate cellulite received orally a daily dosage of 2.5 g bioactive collagen peptides or a placebo.
The researchers assessed the skin waviness, density, and elasticity as well as the degree of cellulite before the start of the treatment. They resumed measurements after 3 and 6 months of intake. The results obtained in this study demonstrated that an oral supplementation with specific bioactive collagen peptides over a period of 6 months led to a significant improvement of the skin quality and appearance in women suffering from moderate cellulite. In addition, the data showed the marked potential of BCP to improve the skin quality. I believe this study to be very promising, for it takes on both cellulite causes and treatment in one go.
Author’s Note
Try to keep your mind open and ears sharp, medicine will once again come to our rescue and offer us that dimple-free coca-cola body we so deserve.
If you would like more details on the subject or if you have any questions, objections, hateful comments or highly deserved praises to offer please do not hesitate to leave a comment.
Also if you have a product that you would like me to review and research, I gladly welcome the challenge.
Research sources: ncbi , liebertpub , ncbi2 .
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