Gluten & Cellulite: Is There a Connection and a Cure?

Can you really get rid of cellulite? You can definitely and radically improve cellulite, but it involves more than a topical creme. Personally, I used to have pretty severe cellulite on my upper thighs and butt. It isn’t completely gone, but it’s 90% improved and the appearance no longer bothers me the way it used to.

Want to know the secret? Keep reading!

Cellulite is often called lumpy, bumpy fat, but that’s not the whole picture. If cellulite was simple fat, it would disappear with weight loss. In fact, it can worsen in appearance if weight loss is sudden. And if it was simply a weight problem, skinny models and actresses wouldn’t have the problem, but they do, making us realize it’s not simply a “fat” problem.

Cellulite is found beneath the skin in our fat layer. Women have a larger layer than men, but the area called the hypodermis – meaning below the skin – attaches the skin layer above it to the muscle and bone beneath through connective tissue.

The connective or fibrous tissue is called the septa and you can imagine it as a mesh. The septa of men have a tight weave to it, like a fine mesh. We women on the other hand have a wider weave to our septa. The larger gaps between the weave allow for the potential of fat to push up in the gaps creating the lovely “cottage cheese” appearance to the skin we all detest. The finer mesh of men allows for a smooth appearance of the skin due to the inability of fat to adequately push through the much smaller gaps.

Do not lament ladies; there is a solution!

Interestingly there is a hormonal component to cellulite as well. It has been observed of men with higher than normal estrogen levels a tendency towards cellulite. Excess estrogen in men can be observed with “man boobs”, erectile dysfunction, low libido, and infertility. The excess estrogen comes in through an exogenous, or outside source, mainly from dairy products and meat due to animals being fed estrogen to gain weight faster.

We used to think our fat cells were inert – meaning they didn’t really “do” anything other than growing larger or smaller. We now realize that unhealthy fat, created from a variety of sources in the diet and our lifestyle, produces inflammation associated with a variety of degenerative diseases including diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. Additionally, it produces hormones that influence appetite. When we consider the wide variety of inflammatory influences coming from hormones fed to the animals we eat, antibiotics, GMO foods, chemicals, preservatives, processed junk food, and basic food sensitivities, it’s no wonder our fat is toxic.

It is the toxic, inflammatory nature of unhealthy fat cells that contributes to cellulite.

What about less industrialized parts of the world where overly refined junk food, GMOs, and an abundance of chemicals, hormones, and pesticides are not present in food? Do they fare better? Dr. Bissoon, a researcher investigating communities in the Amazon cited a complete absence of cellulite in the women of the area. It was not only physically absent, but it was unheard of.  Imagine trying to describe the appearance of cellulite to people who had never seen it!

Therefore, we need to lessen the incoming toxic load on our bodies while simultaneously improving our body’s ability to remove the toxins already present. Both must be done. The lymphatic system of your body is responsible for removing toxins through the circulatory system. It’s adept at its job, but if it becomes overwhelmed, toxins and waste can build up in and around the fat cells. It is believed one result of a buildup of toxins is an altered appearance of the fat cells beneath the skin layer into the distorted bulging appearance consistent with cellulite.

As always, our purpose here at Root Cause Medical is isolating the root cause underlying any condition. Our approach to cellulite is no different. Let’s summarize what we know so far and how we can successfully treat it.

What do we know  about cellulite?

It’s not simply “regular” fat.

Women are more prone.

A higher toxic load increases your likelihood of developing it.

Lifestyle and diet influences cellulite strongly.

Excess estrogen is a link.

 

What do we need to do? A critical step is to lower the toxic burden on the body by evaluating for any of the following:

Food Sensitivity Reactions – a food sensitivity (most common are gluten and dairy) creates excess toxins for the body. Unfortunately, we frequently crave the foods we are sensitive to, thus including them in most of our meals. The frequent ingestion of such foods creates inflammation and increased toxicity. Food sensitivities, if present, must be diagnosed.

Eliminating such foods does substantially reduce the toxic load, something your fat cells will appreciate, but so too will the rest of your body.

Lifestyle Choices – the Standard American Diet (SAD) of chemicals, preservatives, sodas, high fructose corn sweeteners, GMOs, and animal products filled with hormones and antibiotics, is not conducive to a healthy body, let alone healthy, cellulite-free fat cells.

The solution is real food, primarily in the form of plants (9 servings of organic vegetables and fruits, plus beans and legumes), healthy fats (avocados, olives, coconut and almonds – and their oils), and proper hydration (a good 8 glasses of purified water please) will keep your fat cells healthy and smooth. Don’t be afraid of good fat, it will actually help your body to dispel the bad fat. Omega-3 fatty acids, from algae, can help with excess inflammation.

Many of us don’t tolerate grains, especially gluten, and even if gluten-free, aim for whole grains such as black rice, cooked whole quinoa, millet, and buckwheat. Refined grains tend to raise blood sugar, cause cravings, inflammation, and weight gain. Remember we want to seriously avoid anything that creates inflammation, the root cause of all degenerative disease.

Smoking and drugs must be avoided at all costs and alcohol kept to a minimum.

Exercise is very important for circulation, burning fat, and building muscle. For aerobic exercise follow this formula to determine your ideal heart rate: take 220, subtract your age and what remains is your target number. Taking 65-80% of the target number and strive to maintain your heart rate there for about 30 minutes 5 to 6 times per week. Always get your doctor’s blessing prior to beginning any exercise program.

Hormonal Imbalance – women with excess estrogen and insufficient progesterone are common, but it doesn’t make it normal. Such a hormonal imbalance can increase your risk of developing cellulite.

How might you know if excess estrogen is present in your body? There are functional lab tests, but if you suffer from any of the following symptoms, such an imbalance is likely:

heavy periods

PMS

depression

anxiety

fibroids

migraines with the menstrual cycle

infertility

Inexpensive Beauty Hack: there are so many topical and expensive crèmes on the market “promising” to help cellulite. Since they are topical, it is clear they aren’t addressing the root cause of the problem, but they are also pricey AND they don’t work.

Here’s something therapeutic, and inexpensive, you can do instead:

Buy a “dry brush” at a local drug store or beauty shop and brush your skin generally and the cellulite areas in specific in an upwards motion, always towards your heart. If you were dry brushing your thighs you would move in a direction from your knees up towards your butt. The reason for this is it mimics the normal lymph flow, thereby assisting the detoxification of fat cells.

Your skin will tingle and have a nice pink blush from increased circulation. Now treat yourself to a little massage with a high-quality oil made from avocado, coconut, or almond and then bathe as usual. Your skin will soften and cellulite will improve when this is done in concert with the other steps of my program as laid out above.

Remember your skin is your largest organ and to affect its appearance begins from the inside out, not the reverse. With that said, this program is not only effective for cellulite but the co-factors attendant with causing its appearance.