Topical fat loss with creams, treatments and surgery - Part II
In the first part of this article I explained...
...why topical fat loss (also known as spot reduction or local fat loss) is not possible with diet and exercise, as the effects of neither of those fat loss methods can be pinpointed to one specific area. On this article I am analysing three methods of topical fat loss that work, expecially when combined with each other or with diet and exercise.
Method #1: Cellulite creams for topical fat loss
A good local fat loss cream is one that contains a high amount of several natural ingredients that stimulate fat release from your fat cells (just for the record, few such good fat loss creams exist). Your superficial fat cells constantly release or accumulate fat in reaction to contact with various substances that reach the fat cell. These substances can reach your fat cells either through the blood circulation (foods, hormones) or through the skin (creams).
If for example blood capillaries infuse glucose in the adipose extracellular fluid (the fluid that surrounds a fat cell), the cell will react by absorbing this glucose and converting it into fat. If insulin is infused at the same time, glucose absorption increases. This leads to fat cell enlargement - certainly not a good thing for local fat reduction!
If, on the other hand, adrenaline (the fight or flight hormone) is infused from the blood into the adipose tissue during to exercise (or during a fight with your boyfriend!), the fat cell will tend to release fat. If caffeine originating from a cream is infused through the tissues and into the adipocyte extracellular fluid, it will stimulate the fat cell to release fat. If retinol is infused it will stimulate the fat cell to change it's function towards fat release and can even make the cell die off early (this process is called apoptosis). All these things lead to fat cell shrinkage or even fat cell early death - certainly a good thing for local fat reduction!
Since one biochemical pathway usually is not enough to produce the results you are after, your fat-releasing cream should ideally contain several ingredients that act via several pathways. And of course, those ingredients should be in high enough concentrations to elicit a favourable response by the adipocytes. Otherwise the message will be subdued and the cells will react more to the insulin and the glucose and the saturated fat you are feeding them, rather than to the cream ingredients...
So there you have it - you need a cream with several fat-fighting ingredients in significant concentrations, combined with a diet poor in carbs and saturated fat that does not encourage your fat cell to grow, and also combined with some exercise that will give a helping hand to your cream in it's fight against the flab.
If these two conditions are not met the cream will not work - and most creams don't work because you don't give them a helping hand with diet and exercise. And this is one of the two reasons why you are sceptical about fat loss creams / cellulite creams: because you expect the cream to do all the work. The other reason for your scepticism of course is that most creams do not contain enough ingredients and in significant concentrations...
Method #2: Cellulite treatments for topical fat loss
However, cellulite treatments are not only useful in enhancing cream absorption, they do have their own merits. A good anti-cellulite massage can encourage the proliferation of collagen-producing cells at the expense of fat cells, due to the vigorous mechanical stimulation it provides. In addition, if applied immediately before or after exercise, it may help increase the local concentration of the fat burning hormone (adrenaline) produced by exercise, thereby helping you achieve spot reduction. It's simple and it works, especially when combined with a good anti-cellulite cream during or after the treatment.
Method #3: Smart lipo / liposuction for topical fat loss
Why bother with exercise, diet, creams and treatments when you can suck the fat away with liposuction or kill it with smart lipo? Because in both cases if you don't take care of your diet you will put on fat again either on the same area (after smart lipo) or an adjacent area (after liposuction). And if you don't have a good post-surgery treatment your operation will be less effective.
Smart lipo in particular does not destroy the actual fat, it does destroy your fat cells, leaving the fatty acids (plainly speaking the “butter” or “oil” or whatever else you want to call it) in your tissues. Unless you have a good post-smart lipo treatment that will you drain this fat into the general circulation and unless you diet and exercise to burn off this fat, then you should expect your smart lipo to be half as effective. This same treatment will also help you firm up the excess skin left after the reduction of fat that should follow smart lipo. Some good anti-cellulite creams can also enhance the effectiveness of the treatment, as they contain decongestive and anti-inflammatory ingredients.
The same applies to liposuction. You must invest in a good post-liposuction treatment and a good cream that will speed up rehabilitation after the operation, prevent scar tissue formation and firm up the excess skin left after the removal of fat. And unless you want to have fatty bumps and lumps right next to the fat-free operated tissues in the future, you'd better take care of your diet and exercise anyway. otherwise you will need a second and a third liposuction treatment - and many people do exactly that. I hope you are not or you don't want to become one of them...