Cellulite: how to deal with it? And is it necessary?

"Problem areas", "fat traps", "local fat" - as soon as cosmetologists do not name the areas of the female body in which fat is most easily deposited! If we collect all the versions and hypotheses of the causes of fat accumulation in certain areas of the body, their number may be comparable to the number of hypotheses about the origin of black holes in the Galaxy.

This topic has been leading in glossy magazines, advertising articles, blogs for many years. "Slagging", "accumulation of toxins and water", "muscle aging", "diseases of the spine", "foot deformity" and many other assumptions can be found in various sources when you are interested in a problem. Tiina Orasmäe-Meder, cosmetologist

What factors contribute to the development of cellulite?

Т.О.: Today we know quite a lot not only about what processes generally occur in the fatty tissue of the human body, but also about why fiber and connective tissue change noticeably throughout life . As you know, adipose tissue has several physiological functions.

 

Functions of adipose tissue in the body

1. trophic function.

It is fiber that serves as a reserve, accumulating energy in a convenient and compact form. As a result of digestion, we receive nutrients in the form necessary to maintain life, and the excess of nutrients, having undergone certain transformations, turns into triglycerides - fat molecules.

Once there is not enough energy in the body, triglycerides are reversed and broken down to release energy that the body can immediately use.

On average, the human body retains about 100 thousand kilocalories in fatty tissue, and this is provided that there is no excess weight!

Precisely in order to provide this vital function, fat cells are "dimensionless" and can increase many times over, accumulating a large amount of fat. In some cases, under the influence of hormonal stimulation, the number of fat cells may also increase.

2. Thermoregulatory function.

Thanks to adipose tissue, the body is protected from cold and heat. Fiber protects the body from overheating and hypothermia, and with a noticeable change in ambient temperature, the rate of fat melting increases: in the heat, endogenous water released during the breakdown of fats evaporates from the skin and has a cooling effect, and when frozen, fat begins to break down faster and increases thermogenesis, warming the body.

Thus, any change in temperature that causes noticeable discomfort accelerates the process of losing weight.

3. Escrow function.

Fiber not only stores energy, but also acts as a source of water, which is actively released during the breakdown of fats, and also reserves fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K and steroid hormones, in particular estrogens.

4. Protective function.

Fiber protects internal organs, subcutaneous nerve and vascular bundles from accidental injuries and damage.

5. Healing function.

It is the subcutaneous adipose tissue that provides the processes of granulation and healing of wounds, skin lesions.

6. Endocrine function.

T.O. Finally, it has recently been established that subcutaneous adipose tissue has an endocrine function. In fat cells - adipocytes - the organelles that synthesize steroids are well developed: the endoplasmic reticulum and the mitochondrial apparatus.

Adipocytes synthesize estrogens, mainly estrone, providing the so-called peripheral synthesis of female sex hormones, which makes up the majority of estrone synthesis in general. With severe weight loss, amenorrhea and menopause, either temporary or permanent, may even occur.

Relationship between adipocytes and hormonal levels

Т.О.: In addition, leptin, a hormone that regulates food intake, is synthesized in adipocytes. Leptin inhibits the synthesis of neuropeptide Y, which increases appetite, fat synthesis in cells and stimulates insulin production.

Leptin control or how to feed the satiety hormone?

With a decrease in fat stores, rapid and severe weight loss, fat cells return to an undifferentiated state, leptin becomes less, appetite increases and fat accumulation is facilitated.

 

This is a defense mechanism that is well known to fans of strict diets: each weight loss increases the body's resistance, and with the next weight gain it becomes more and more difficult to lose weight.

It is the specificity of the subcutaneous adipose tissue that determines the appearance of those features that we have been calling aesthetic defects in recent years.

In women of childbearing age, regular and cyclical hormonal changes occur in the body, in which subcutaneous fat is also involved.

Т.О.: In certain areas of the female body, fiber has a greater hormonal activity. Most often, these zones are located in the thighs, lower and middle buttocks, lower abdomen and knee area.

How to lose hormonal weight: three effective strategies?

It is there that estrone is most actively synthesized by aromatization and transformation of male hormones - androgens, which are produced in the female body by the theca - ovarian tissue and adrenal cortex.

The process of androgen aromatization proceeds with certain side effects, such as an increase in the permeability of the lymphatic and venous capillaries, a gradual change in the synthesis of structural fibers and a decrease in the sensitivity of fat cell receptors responsible for lipolysis processes. Gradually, in the areas where estrone is synthesized, pastosity occurs, turning into edema of the subcutaneous fatty tissue.

Т.О.: In these areas, the processes of fat splitting slow down, the fiber begins to respond more slowly to stimulation, over time, the connective tissue becomes denser, which leads to the appearance of a specific "grain".

Outwardly, this is manifested by a gradual increase in the volume of the hips, a slight increase in the volume of the lower part of the buttocks, knees and the "lower crescent" of the abdomen. After some time, after the establishment of the menstrual cycle, these symptoms occur to a greater or lesser extent in the vast majority of women.

The most effective cosmetic techniques to combat cellulite?

It is these changes in the silhouette that are called "riding breeches", "knee cuffs", etc. If the development of the process is not counteracted, then in the future the delimitation of the zones becomes clearer, the skin begins to look like an orange peel, and then the tubercles and dents become all more pronounced, creating a feeling of specific looseness and unevenness of the skin.

 

Regular gymnastics and exercise will help you get rid of cellulite problems! Just repeat after the coach!