Why do women get cellulite

Body ‘issues’ are often a major reason behind women being diffident. And the society with its construct of ‘oh-so-spotless’ skin gets to many. Yet, the media has been blessed with some women who are flaunting their true selves, making others understand that their body is totally their business.

One such issue seems to be cellulite. But what causes cellulite? There have been countless theories on the causes of cellulite, right from the extremely absurd ones (like ‘chocolate’ causes it) to weird ones (like ‘leggings’ could have to do with it). A new study took into consideration these and a few other spurious myths to decipher realistic reasons for women having cellulite.  

The best part is, claims of cellulite being caused by sedentary lifestyles and poor diets have been proven false. “The theory that cellulite is caused by trapped toxins is an internet myth,” said cellulite specialist Georgios Tzenichristos. “Men are actually less careful with their diet, alcohol and smoking. So if someone had to have lots of cellulite because of high consumption of toxins, that would have to be men, not women,” Tzenichristos further said.

Tzenichristos explained that, “Women develop cellulite because they have weaker connective tissue and larger fat cells, due to the effect of female hormones. Men, on the other hand, have much stronger connective tissue and much less subcutaneous fat, so they normally do not develop cellulite. The combination of larger fat lobules pushing the skin upwards and less collagen anchors that offer little resistance to the upward pressure of fat, gives the appearance of cellulite.” As Glamour exemplifies, like Trump, cellulite is a little bit sexist.

Women have larger fat cells thanks to their capability to give birth. Pushing a baby out of your body and feeding it need some solid energy. So the body stores back-up food reserves for possible lactation in hips and thighs.

Dr Edwin Anthony, Medical Director at EA Clinic said, “Increasing the fat percentage in your body will certainly not help with cellulite occurrence.” To fight cellulite, “obviously you have to reduce the size of the fat lobules and increase skin collagen,” said Tzenichristos, “which, in practice, means more everyday movement, more exercise, less calorie intake [there goes your favourite snack] and more collagen-boosting foods, such as vegetables, berries, herbs and lean protein.” Also, “avoiding hormonal contraception can also prevent further deterioration of connective tissue and enlargement of fat lobules," Tzenichristos suggested.

Ageing leads to breakdown of collagen, and is thus responsible for cellulite formation. The skin tends to lose elasticity with age.“Poor blood circulation does not help either,” said Dr Edwin. “It results is less nutrition getting through, leading to the skin weakening and allowing fat cells to push through. Nicotine in cigarettes result in poor blood circulation, for example. And, too much sun exposure ages the skin prematurely weakening the skin’s elasticity making cellulite more obvious,” he added.