Cellulite is a common condition where fat and toxins collect into pockets just under the surface of the skin. This gives the skin a dimpled effect and can normally be seen behind the thighs and on the buttocks. Although men can get cellulite too, it mainly affects post-pubescent women.

Cellulite isn’t the least bit painful and, besides looking unsightly, is seen to be more of a nuisance than a medical condition. However, it’s actually an indication that something isn’t quite right within your body.

I’ve suffered with cellulite from time to time but I’ve always paid attention to it because it reveals that toxins and fatty deposits aren’t being flushed out of my system properly. I don’t know about you, but I’d really rather not have toxins and fat lazing around in my body!

According to Thelma Thomas of Escential Massage Therapy, the following factors cause cellulite:

• Sedentary lifestyle
  Lack of exercise, poor circulation and muscle tone, can cause cellulite development. Without exercise, the connective tissue hardens in the skin and can lead to dimpling. This is exacerbated the older you become as you naturally lose muscle tone and tend to exercise less.

• Insufficient water intake
  Drinking lots of water will help flush toxins out your body. Since cellulite is a mixture of fat, water, and toxic wastes that the body has failed to eliminate, drinking plenty of water can help diminish cellulite.

• Poor diet
  A poor diet consisting of alcohol, processed foods, and caffeine contributes to cellulite since the toxins they produce get trapped in fatty tissue.

• Smoking
  Smoking promotes cellulite by damaging the connective tissue in your body. This lack of connective tissue causes the dimpled effect in cellulite.

• Medication
  Diet pills, sleeping pills and diuretics all lead to cellulite. Birth control also increases cellulite formation because of its tendency to produce high levels of estrogen. It also leads to water retention which inhibits the body from flushing the system of toxins, leading to the formation of cellulite.

• Crash diets
  When the body thinks it’s starving it attempts to hold on to saturated fats which help build cellulite. Unfortunately, these fats block the arteries and get trapped in tissues as well, preventing sufficient waste and toxin elimination.

• A genetic predisposition
  Genes highly determine your chance of developing cellulite.

So armed with this information it’s best to address your cellulite as something more than a superficial issue. Do you need to exercise more? Do you need to drink more water? Do you need to massage the affected areas to increase circulation? Do you need to check the medication you’re on or address why you’re taking that medication in the first place?

Don’t ignore when your body is telling you something; work with your body, not against it.

What’s your attitude to cellulite? Are you one of the lucky ones who are never affected by it? Do you consider it an issue at all? Perhaps you address the issues that cause cellulite but still find you suffer with it? Whatever your take on this issue, we’d love to hear from you! Simply add your comment in the box below.

Part 2 of this article will cover the prevention and cure for cellulite. Be sure not to miss it - book mark this page using the icon below or subscribe by clicking the icon in the column to the right of this article.

Yours naturally,

Xina

Nature’s Parlour