By any other name, cellulite may still throw the perfectly sane into a tizzy, as winter pants and coats are doffed for more revealing spring and summer styles. This cultural anxiety has meant big bucks for some beauty product–makers and medical practitioners alike. Tons of products and procedures promise to seek out and destroy the lumpy fat on thighs, bottoms, arms and tummies.
Cellulite doesn’t only afflict the full-figured. It’s also a scourge of the skinny, not to mention girls as young as teenagers.
Despite the vast amounts of time and money that has gone into trying to find ways to dissolve these nodules—from lasers to caffeine creams—researchers and doctors are still scratching their heads.
Cellulite is more common in women than in men because of difference in the way fat cells, muscle, and connective tissue are distributed in their skin. Fat deposits that push and distort the connective tissues beneath the skin cause the appearance of lumpiness, leading to the characteristic “cottage cheese” changes in the appearance of the skin.
As women start approaching menopause, estrogen starts decreasing. From 25 to 35 is when you start seeing the appearance of cellulite.
Estrogen has an impact on the blood vessels. When estrogen starts to decrease, you lose receptors in blood vessels and thighs, so you have decreased circulation. With decreased circulation, you get less oxygen and nutrition to that area, and with that we see a decrease in collagen production and fat cells start to begin to protrude through the collagen (and become the bumpy fat known as cellulite). Women tend to get cellulite around the knees, saddlebags and buttocks because they have three layers of fat in these areas (instead of just one).
Another reason women get cellulite has to do with the (two kinds of) adrenergic receptors. When stimulated, alpha receptors will cause fat cells to produce fat (as well as triggering constriction of blood vessels and release of sugar into the bloostream) when beta receptors are stimulated, they break down fat (as well as increasing heart rate and relaxing blood vessels). In women, for every one beta receptor in the thigh, there are nine alpha receptors. Estrogen also makes fat whereas testosterone breaks down fat. So a woman’s body is basically genetically designed to be a place for cellulite to develop. Men have one layer of fat throughout their entire body and a one-to-one alpha- and beta-receptor ratio.
So is cellulite solely systemic? Not really. Your diet and lifestyle also play a major role in developing it. For example when you eat a high-calorie meal and then go to work and sit at a desk. Think of those (fat-producing) alpha receptors just waiting to rock and roll! So, it all goes together. That’s why women struggle to lose weight below the waist. From the waist up, for every four receptors that break down fat, there are five that make it, so it’s almost a one-to-one ratio. From the trunk up, there’s just one layer of fat, except for the triceps arm area.
Though it is a systemic issue, your lifestyle factors contribute majorly to determining whether it will reduce or increase.
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