WHAT IS CELLULITE?
Cellulite is the lumpy, bumpy, dimply fatty tissue that you and everyone else can see most commonly on hips, thighs, buttocks, lower back, lower abdomen and backs of the arms.
But what is it? What is happening under the skin? And why me?
Cellulite is a combination of things happening within the first few mm under the surface of the skin.
Key points
- What it is. Cellulite is lumpy fatty tissue seen most commonly on hips, thighs, buttocks and the backs of the arms.
- How it forms. It happens in the first few mm under the skin when swelling fat cells break through weak connective tissue and cause bumps and dimples.
- Two main causes. Over-full fat cells, and weak dermal connective tissue, collagen and elastin.
- Hormones play a role. Hormonal factors including estrogen are thought to influence how the body stores fat and fluid.
- Ways to support skin. Diet, body care, antioxidants and collagen may support skin appearance and general wellbeing.
Fat storage sites under the skin are held in small compartments made of connective tissue, elastin and collagen. When these fat cells swell as they fill up with fat, the connective tissue compartment is supposed to be able to hold the fat cells in an organised compartment. Between the fat and the skin is a layer called the dermis that is supposed to be full and plump and spongy enough to hide any changes in the fat layers beneath.
Cellulite happens when the fat cells swell and the connective tissue compartment cannot contain the swelling fat cells and some of the bands snap under the pressure. This causes areas where the fat cells explode up and out of the compartment causing a bump on the skin surface; while the area where the connective tissue has lost elasticity but hasn't snapped is still pinned down creating a trough or dimple.
WHAT CAUSES CELLULITE?
There are 2 main causes for cellulite
1. Fat cells over full
2. Weak dermal connective tissue, collagen and elastin
OVERFLOWING FAT CELLS
Hormonal factors, including estrogen levels, are thought to play a role in how the body stores fat and fluid, which may influence the appearance of skin. This is a vicious cycle,the biochemical trap could have started with excessive fat cells or obesity; or from exposure to excessive estrogen from pollutants, plastics, genetics, contraceptive pills etc.
WEAK COLLAGEN
Did you know that cellulite is a side effect of having a period? Not fair I know. On a monthly cycle your body will tell immune cells to breakdown the collagen that holds the period in so that you can shed the endometrium and have a period. Collagen is an important structural protein found throughout the body, including in the skin, and its levels can be influenced by various lifestyle and dietary factors.
Lifestyle factors such as smoking and diet may affect general skin health and appearance over time.
TIPS TO SUPPORT SKIN APPEARANCE AND GENERAL WELLBEING
DIETARY TIPS FOR GENERAL HORMONAL WELLBEING
- Brassica vegetables such as broccoli, kale, and cabbage are a source of compounds associated with general digestive and nutritional health as part of a balanced diet. Broccoli, broccoli sprouts, kale, spinach, radish, watercress, cabbage and cauliflower
- B vitamins in particular folic acid, B12 and B6
- Dietary fibre may support general digestive health as part of a balanced diet.
- Kelp and seaweed are natural sources of fibre and minerals that may support general digestive health as part of a balanced diet.
BODY CARE TIPS FOR SKIN APPEARANCE
- Massage may support general circulation and help with the appearance of skin.
- Dry skin brushing using a vegetable bristle brush of luffa
- Massage in topical body shaping serums (Such as ATP Science Subcut and Block-E creams) that contain caffeine and other compounds like forskolin as part of a general skin care routine.
ANTIOXIDANTS TO PROTECT DERMAL COLLAGEN
- Turmeric, lycopene, green and white tea, rosehip, silybin / silymarin protect dermal connective tissue from becoming brittle and break too easily.
ANTIOXIDANTS TO PROTECT DERMAL COLLAGEN
- Turmeric, lycopene, greens powder and white tea, rosehip, silybin / silymarin may help support the appearance of healthy skin as part of a balanced diet and daily routine.
NUTRITIONAL SUPPORT FOR SKIN APPEARANCE
- Vitamin C and bioflavonoids such as rutin, quercetin, and luteolin are nutrients that may support general skin health and appearance as part of a balanced diet.
- "You are what you eat" - so eat more collagen from green lipped mussel, chicken sternum / cartilage, tripe, and hydrolysed collagen supplements like Collagen Complete and Glow Collagen Coffee.
Do cellulite supplements actually work?
Not in the way they are marketed, and we would rather say so than sell you one on a false premise.
No supplement removes cellulite. A small number of trials have looked at collagen peptides and cellulite appearance with some modest findings over six months, but they are small, mostly funded by collagen manufacturers, and not independently replicated. Any product promising to eliminate cellulite is well ahead of the evidence.
What is reasonable: collagen has better evidence for skin hydration and elasticity generally, and skin structure is part of how cellulite appears. That is a plausible indirect route, not a demonstrated result.
What deficiency causes cellulite?
None. This is the most important thing on this page.
Cellulite is not a deficiency, a disease, or a sign that anything is wrong with you. It is a normal structural feature of skin, caused by the way fat sits between connective tissue bands. In women those bands run mostly vertically, which allows fat to bulge between them. In men they cross in a lattice, which is the main reason cellulite is far more common in women.
It affects an estimated majority of women after puberty, including lean and athletic ones. It is not caused by being unfit, unhealthy, or short of a vitamin, and anything framing it as a correctable deficiency is selling something.
What vitamins should I take for cellulite?
There is no vitamin that treats cellulite, and no deficiency to correct.
Two are worth having for skin health generally, which is a different claim:
- Vitamin C. Your body physically cannot synthesise collagen without it.
- Adequate protein. Not a vitamin, but the raw material for collagen and more commonly short than people expect.
Beyond that, a supplement aimed specifically at cellulite is buying a promise the evidence does not support.
What actually helps the appearance of cellulite?
Honestly, less than the industry implies. What has some support:
- Resistance training. Building the muscle underneath changes the surface contour more reliably than anything topical or ingestible. The best-supported thing on this list.
- Sun protection and not smoking. Both protect the collagen you already have.
- Adequate protein and hydration. Supports skin structure generally.
- Clinical treatments. Some have better evidence than supplements, but they are a dermatologist conversation and generally need ongoing maintenance.
The most accurate advice on this page is also the least commercial: cellulite is normal, and the pressure to eliminate it is manufactured.
A correction to the science above
An earlier version of this article described fat cells filling with "fat and toxins". That is not accurate. Fat cells store fat, and the idea that cellulite is caused by trapped toxins is not supported by any evidence. It is a long-running marketing claim rather than physiology, and it is usually attached to something being sold.
Where to go next
- How skin works, and what actually degrades collagen.
- Does collagen work for skin?
