﻿ Cellulite busting

Cellulite and Oxygen!

We found this article in the July 2001 edition of EVE magazine. We thought it was interesting as some ladies using Aerobic Oxygen for other reasons also reported they felt that cellulite was also reduced. Although we are not making any claims that it will reduce cellulite what is there to loose?

What makes cellulite different?

Dr Elisabeth Dancey, author of The Cellulite Solution (Coronet, £6.99), specialises in aesthetic medicine. She thinks cellulite is just fatty tissue that’s become distorted. The problem begins when fat cells are staved of oxygen.

Normally, cells are bathed in lymph, which seeps from tiny capillaries. The cells take what oxygen  and nutrients they need, then dump their waste into the lymph to be swept away. If lymph flow slows down, however, fluid collects in the tissues and, being rich in protein, behaves like jelly and literally sets between the cells. This puts pressure on the capillaries, reducing blood flow. Deprived of oxygen, cells known as fibroblasts, which produce collagen and elastin, start making tough tethering fibres, which wrap around the fat cells. “Fat is imprisoned in these fibrous pockets.” Says Dr Dancey, giving cellulite its characteristic knobbly texture and appearance.

CELLULITE CROSS SECTION: As fat pushes up on the connective layer (shown here in grey), it creates the bumpy surface on the skin we know (and love) as cellulite.

So can anything—other than a serious overhaul of cultural beauty standards—really conquer these less-than-darling dimples? We spoke with osteopathic physician Lionel Bissoon to help us get to the bottom (so to speak) of some of the cellulite hoopla. Bissoon runs a clinic for mesotherapy (injections of homeopathic extracts, vitamins and/or medicine designed to reduce the appearance of cellulite) in New York City, and is the author of the book The Cellulite Cure published in 2006.

[An edited transcript of the interview follows.]

What exactly is cellulite?

It's a condition that affects 90 percent of women and 10 percent of men, mostly in industrial nations. 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…. [Also, at this time] fat cells start becoming larger, [they] begin protruding through the collagen [and become the bumpy fat known as cellulite].