TalkPerfection member iv64 posed us a puzzler this week:
“Can anyone explain to me why drinking coffee is bad for cellulite however all cellulite banishing products actually contain caffeine? I don't get it...”
We had to scratch our heads and admit that we didn’t get it either. In fact, there is a wealth of debate across the net claiming strongly one way… and then strongly the other.
According the Guardian: “If you are a woman over 30, there's a 90% chance you've been afflicted at one time or another by cellulite.”
Well now the debate gets interesting, because the exact definition of cellulite is also tough to pin down. The consensus generally points to bumpy, orange peel skin, often found around the bottom and thigh area.
The causes of cellulite are, yes, you guessed it, also up for debate. According to US-based Better Nutrition magazine, the term ‘cellulite’ isn’t actually a medical name: “It was coined in European spas and popularized in America in the early 1970s, when New York salon owner Nicole Ronsard published Cellulite: Those Lumps, Bumps and Bulges You Couldn't Lose Before.”
It’s been known as cellulite ever since.
Some claim that cellulite is fatty layers trapped beneath the skin. Some claim it is simply a by-product of being overweight and is in fact a rather polite way of saying plain old fat.
Some claim people are either genetically predisposed for lumps and bumps or they’re not.
Some claim it is due to waste toxins that are not being efficiently flushed from the body and some claim it is a combination of these.
There are several common approaches to try:
- drink plenty of water
- eliminate fatty, processed or sugary food
- cut back on alcohol
- try lymph drainage massage to get toxins on their way
- cut back on caffeine
But there’s the rub. There are also a bevy of cellulite-busting lotions and potions on the market. None of them contain processed food or wine, but many of them contain caffeine.
How is this so?
In 2007, research by Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil found that a cream containing 7% of caffeine could have a positive effect on cellulite areas.
The study tested 130 women with cellulite on their hip and thigh area. The women rubbed the cream on to one thigh and hip each day, leaving the other thigh and hip untreated for comparison.
At the end of the 30-day study, 80% had tighter skin and had lost up to 2cm from their thighs. Two out of three of the women had also lost weight from their hip area.
The theory behind it suggests the caffeine is absorbed into the skin, where it speeds up the rate that the body gets rid of the extra fat.
But why then avoid drinking caffeine?
Better Nutrition magazine sums up the difference: “Although drinking caffeine seems to increase cellulite - probably by impairing circulation and lymph flow - topical application can reduce fat content in cells by blocking phosphodiesterase, an enzyme that inhibits fat breakdown.”
