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 is there anything you can do about it? 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. If you pinch the skin around an area of cellulite you often find it looks like orange peel. It also affects some areas of the body more than others, particularly the legs, buttocks and hips.

Fat stored in other parts of the body is the same type of fat that results in cellulite; this is also known as adipose tissue. 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. It is a little bit like butter being squeezed through a knitted sweater. 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.

It particularly affects women because we put on fat in a totally different way to men. Adipose tissue in men is generally in the abdominal area, and often internally around the important organs. In women, it settles more round thighs and hips, where it becomes more visible in the form of cellulite. Also, the adipose tissue squeezes through connective tissue if it is more elastic, and sadly as we all get older, our connective tissue tends to loosen up.

But enough of the science - how to get rid of Cellulite? The key is simply to lose weight and there are two main ways to do this. First, make sure you take in fewer calories than you use up in energy. It is useful to exercise, as using up energy is only one result of exercising. The metabolic rate in your body will increase with aerobic exercises done regularly, resulting in using up more energy stored in the body. It also helps improve muscle tone. 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. To achieve this, it is best to stay away from foods containing lots of sugar, French fries, white bread that has been processed, noodles, rice and alcohol. 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.

Many people will also use hydrating creams and massage. T These only give a temporary look of improvement, as they don't remove the cellulite but swell the skin around it to make it look smooth. There is no long-lasting substitute for a low-calorie, low sugar diet that is fairly high in protein, fruit and vegetables however. Treating cellulite is the same as treating any other fat in the lobby - the only ways to fight it are exercise and diet.