Lipolysis and cellulite

Lipolysis is the basis of cellulite fat reduction

We are pleased to share our experience and knowledge in cellulite and skin tightening, from our clinic in London with everyone in the world. Check all our articles here. And if you do live in London, feel free to book a treatment with us here.

• Lipolysis: the first step for cellulite reduction

• For cellulite reduction, lipolysis is king

• Lipolysis with exercise and diet

• Lipolysis with treatments

• Lipolysis with natural actives

• The most powerful natural lipolytics are forskolin and caffeine

• Several other natural chemicals are known for their lipolytic action

• Forskolin, caffeine, cellulite and cost of active ingredients

• Insulin and lipolysis inhibition

• Lipolysis and losing weight (and cellulite)

• Lipolysis, fat oxidation and weight loss

• Cellulite treatments/creams, lipolysis and diet/exercise

• A £300 cellulite treatment vs a £3 muffin

• Check our professional consultancy in radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, cellulite and skin tightening

Lipolysis: the first step for cellulite reduction

The most important aspect of cellulite is fat accumulation in the hypodermis (deepest skin layer). Everything else (water retention, skin laxity, fibrosis etc) is also important, but secondary.

Consequently hypodermal fat reduction is the most important step in reducing cellulite.

The process by which fat is broken down in fat cells, for release into the bloodstream consequent oxidation (i.e. “fat burning”) in muscles and organs, is called lipolysis.

I cannot emphasise this enough: lipolysis is THE most important aspect of cellulite reduction. When fat is removed from hypodermal adipocytes, cellulite is reduced.

Some people focus too much on the water retention or the fibrosis aspects of cellulite, e.g. with gentle lymphatic drainage or strong, painful massage, respectively.

Sure, if we can work on the other important aspects of cellulite, i.e. if we can also boost circulation and fibrosis breakdown, all the better.

However, cellulite cannot be reduced just by doing all these other secondary bits.

For cellulite reduction, above everything else, hypodermal fat must go and lipolysis must occur. Massage is great, but never enough.

For cellulite reduction, lipolysis is king

Lipolysis can be stimulated by:

• Hormones and nutrients in the body

• Technology (treatments)

• Different natural active ingredients

Lipolysis with exercise and diet

The most powerful lipolytic hormone is noradrenaline (aka norepinephrine). This is the flight or fight hormone. Noradrenaline is secreted when we:

• Get angry, anxious or cold

• Take stimulants

• Exercise or move a lot

The healthiest way to secrete noradrenaline is when we exercise. The unhealthiest way to do so is when we take stimulant drugs or when we are stressed.

Lipolysis also occurs when we are on a negative calorie balance, i.e. when we eat less.

Lipolysis with treatments

The best way to stimulate lipolysis with treatments is with deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency and with high-power ultrasound cavitation.

(Contrary to marketing hype, lasers, electrical muscle stimulation, infrared and red and green LEDs and massages do not work for lipolysis).

Both RF and ultrasound also stimulate circulation.

Plus, deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency also stimulates skin tightening too.

So we have a double effect with ultrasound cavitation (lipolysis, circulation) and a triple effect with RF (lipolysis, circulation, skin firming).

Please note: low power radiofrequency / ultrasound are not powerful enough to stimulate anything. Furthermore, superficially acting RF does not even reach the hypodermis, so again not much happens in terms of lipolysis and, consequently, cellulite reduction. So choose carefully, as with low power and or superficial RF/ultrasound treatments you waste your time.

Lipolysis with natural actives

Hugh-purity, natural active ingredients, when included in high concentrations in topical creams (cellulite creams), can also stimulate lipolysis - especially if two or more lipolytics are combined.

Again, low-purity, low-concentration natural actives (as in the vast majority of so-called “cellulite creams”) will do nothing.

Also, single natural actives on their own will not be that effective, even if found in high purity and/or high concentrations. For lipolysis, synergy is important.

Again choose carefully, as with low purity / low concentration cellulite creams you will waste your time.

The most powerful natural lipolytics are forskolin and caffeine

These are the ones proven by multiple studies and even used in laboratory experiments as the golden standard molecules to investigate lipolysis.

Forskolin initiates lipolysis and caffeine helps maintain it:

• Forskolin is a widely used biochemical tool that activates adenyl cyclase, thereby increasing intracellular concentration of cAMP and thus activating the protein kinase A (PKA) signal transduction pathway

• Caffeine also stimulates lipolysis via the inhibition of PDE activity and by increasing the cAMP levels in adipocytes

Several other natural chemicals are known for their lipolytic action:

• Asiatic acid, madecassic acid, asiaticoside and madecassoside from gotu kola

• Curcumin from turmeric

• EGCG from green tea

• Resveratrol

• Pine bark extract

• and several others

However, forskolin and caffeine are the most important and they also happen to reinforce / complement each other’s action.

Forskolin, for example, is used as a standard lipolytic agent in lipolysis experiments in the lab, when noradrenaline or its analogs are not suitable. It is THE natural lipolytic, with plenty of research behind it.

Forskolin, caffeine, cellulite and cost of active ingredients

Both forskolin and caffeine also happen to boost blood circulation and indirectly help inhibit fibrosis - a triple whammy for cellulite prevention / reduction.

Although caffeine is very well known as a lipolytic ingredient in cellulite creams, forskolin is not.

Why? Well, forskolin is about ten more expensive than caffeine, and the vast majority of cosmetic companies are in it for maximum profit, not maximum benefit to the customer.

Marketing hype and cheap ingredients (even in the most expensive creams) is what sells cosmetics, not quality and expensive active ingredients (that’s the sad truth with skincare and cosmetics).

Insulin and lipolysis inhibition

The most powerful ANTI-lipolytic hormone is insulin.

Insulin is secreted when we consume starches and, especially, sugars. Protein consumption also stimulates some insulin secretion.

On the other hand, insulin secretion is inhibited:

• During exercise, especially high-intensity exercise

• When we do not consume carbs/sugars at all (ketogenic diet)

• Or when we do not consume food for prolonged periods of time (e.g. the 16-8 intermittent fasting diet)

Lipolysis and losing weight (and cellulite)

Fats themselves can also inhibit lipolysis directly on fat cells (no insulin needed).

So the safest way to not inhibit lipolysis is to either not eat or exercise or both.

Of course, we cannot not eat all the time (that’s called anorexia and it’s a serious mental disorder) and we cannot exercise all the time (that’s called addiction to exercise and your joints/adrenals will not like it very much after a while).

So healthy weight loss happens gradually when lipolysis stimulation exceeds lipolysis inhibition, as an average throughout the day / month / year, by eating a bit less and exercising a bit more.

Lipolysis, fat oxidation and weight loss

It is also important to consider that for weight loss, lipolysis is half the job. Lipolysis just drives fat out of fat cells. Fat oxidation in muscles and organs (and sometimes in fat tissue itself) is essential for fat to be removed from the body.

Otherwise, fat which is released into the bloodstream after lipolysis will get redeposited back into fat tissue again. If that wasn’t the case, you could lose weight just by consuming caffeine or forskolin, without any dieting or exercising - which is evidently not the case.

The good news is that exercise and diet provide both lipolysis stimulation and fat oxidation.

That’s how weight loss with diet and exercise occurs: lipolysis + fat oxidation.

Even the strongest stimulants, such as amphetamines, do not make you lose weight by lipolysis only. They actually stimulate you to eat less and move more, which is in essence diet and exercise.

(OK, stimulants like amphetamine also increase your basal metabolism, so you automatically burn fat during the day regardless of diet or movement, but this is both very unhealthy and very unsustainable.)

Cellulite treatments/creams, lipolysis and diet/exercise

For cellulite reduction, if we combine lipolytic treatments/creams:

• With a strict, healthy diet and/or lots of exercise, we achieve maximum results. This is because we have combined lipolytic stimulation from both the cellulite treatment/cream AND from diet/exercise.

• With an average, OK diet and not much exercise, we miss out on the lipolysis synergy between diet/exercise and treatments/creams. This provides less impressive results.

• With rich food, alcohol and inactivity, we achieve mediocre/zero results. This is because lipolysis inhibition from rich food, alcohol and inactivity completely undermines the lipolysis stimulation from any treatment or cream. If you pit insulin (i.e. rich food and inactivity) against any treatment or cream, insulin will always win, hands down - no question about that.

A £300 cellulite treatment vs a £3 muffin

Moral of the story: do not ruin the effectiveness of a £300 cellulite treatment - or an £120 cellulite cream - with a £3 muffin (or even a £300 bottle of champagne).

• I actually had clients in the past showing up for treatment with a chocolate brownie, which apparently was “OK because you are going to burn it with your machine”. Or clients who came for treatment right after a pizza and half a bottle of wine. Not very smart thinking…

• And I had clients showing up for treatment after consuming a bottle and a half of champagne the night before, because actually “It is a good, expensive champagne so it doesn’t cause any side effects like cheap wine does”. Expensive doesn’t make the champagne a “diet drink”.

Obviously, these clients will not get the best possible results, even from the best treatment in the world.

When you have a lipolytic cellulite treatment or use a lipolytic cellulite cream, give it a helping hand with some lipolytic healthy diet and some lipolytic exercise, to get the most out of your investment.

Check our professional consultancy in radiofrequency, ultrasound cavitation, cellulite and skin tightening

If you are a therapist or clinic owner and are interested in our professional consultancy/teaching, via Zoom or at our London practice, please contact us here.