Is glaucine, an extract of the common yellow poppy, the ideal anti-cellulite cream ingredient?

A multifunctional anti-cellulite cream ingredient

Yellow poppy is a plant that belongs to the poppy family and is primarily found in western Europe.
Lately studies undertaken by a cosmetics ingredient manufacturer have shown that the yellow poppy (Glaucium Flavum) extract glaucine exerts a pronounced inhibitory effect on fat cells, that can be used in the fight against cellulite, as an ingredient of a cellulite cream. Specifically, scientists found that:

• Glaucine encourages existing fat cells to release fat. This process is also known as “lipolysis”.
• Glaucine discourages the growth of new fat cells from the “stem cell pool”. This process is called “adipocyte differentiation” and glaucine inhibits it. This allows stem cells to mature into collagen-producing cells instead (a.k.a. fibroblasts), and to gradually replace fat with firmness. The latter process is called “fibroblast differentiation”, and is allowed to occur due to the inhibitory action of glaucine .
• Glaucine encourages fat cells to revert to the stem cell type (a process called “dedifferentiation”) and from then on to re-evolve into a fibroblast, or collagen cell (this is called re-differentiation). Re-differentiation further boosts connective tissue firmness.
• Finally, glaucine has also been found to also reduce water retention.

Given that the three most important components of cellulite are excessive superficial tissue fat accumulation, lack of firmness and water retention, this new Glaucium Flavum extract seems to be the ideal anti-cellulite cream ingredient due to it’s multifunctional profile.

Specifically, glaucine produced the following results on fat cell cultures:

• Glaucine inhibited the enzyme G3PDH, a key adipocyte differentiation marker by 93%. This means that glaucine inhibits the creation of new fat cells.
• Glaucine increased glycerol release, a key lipolysis marker by 86%. This means that glaucine stimulates the release of fat from fat cells.
• Glaucine stimulated fat cells transdifferentiation into the fibroblast phenotype after six days of incubation. This means that glaucine stimulates the transformation of fat cells into functional collagen cells that actually do contract like normal collagen cells (fibroblasts). In the tissues this would be experienced as a reduction of fat and as an increase of taughtness!

It is important to note here that regardless of how impressive these in-vitro fat cell culture results are, they mean little unless backed up by in-vivo studies on actual human volunteers. However, as you can see in the next paragraph, the human trial did indeed verify the in-vitro results.

The human study

Predictably, after the impressive in-vitro studies, described in our previous paragraph, Glaucine produced the following changes after a 56-day clinical study involving 17 females who used a glaucine-rich cream twice a day:

• Cellulite fat deposits were reduced by 14%
• Cellulite globule projection was reduced by 17%
• Cellulite water retention was reduced by 7%
• Firmness was increased by 15%

The above results illustrate very vividly how useful glaucine is as a cellulite cream ingredient that fights cellulite on several fronts. In combination with a few more anti-cellulite ingredients, contained in high enough concentrations, the results should be even more impressive (the problem with most cellulite creams is that they do not contain several different quality ingredients, in high enough concentrations).

Glaucine is not a panacea against cellulite but it is an ideal cellulite cream ingredient

Of course, however impressive this yellow poppy extract is, it is not a panacea against cellulite. Miracles do not exist. A good diet and exercise regime must be followed, otherwise all the good work done by a glaucine-rich anti-cellulite cream can easily be undone by a diet rich in saturated fat, sugar and/or alcohol and by a sedentary lifestyle. However, with a good exercise and diet regime and a good anti-cellulite massage or other quality cellulite treatment, results should be guaranteed.