“I have been talking about the role of glycation as a cause of cellulite and skin laxity for more than 20 years now - and formulated cellulite creams with anti-cellulite actives 15 years ago already - and still no-one is talking about it in relation to cellulite and skin looseness. At least, lately more and more people are talking about the role of glycation in skin ageing (only) but that’s just in relation to skincare product marketing. Still there is very little or nothing in beauty publications about how food choices increase the burden of glycation on the body and what we can do to reduce glycation and its consequences - especially cellulite and skin laxity. Indeed, the “cellulite industry” is quite pathetic, with the typical advice peddled to the public still centring around “doing lots and lots of dry brushing”, avoiding caffeine and having “laser treatment” - all of which obviously don’t work.”
How glycation causes cellulite - not just skin aging
What is glycation and how does it lead to skin aging and cellulite?
What causes glycation in the skin?
Examples of glycation causing, and thereby cellulite-causing, foods
Why glycation is so important for cellulite?
How can I reduce glycation?
Eating out and glycation
Anti-glycation foods and nutrients
LipoTherapeia® Plus: Have a skin tightening/cellulite treatment with London’s cellulite experts
The Cellulite School™: Get advanced training in cellulite reduction and skin tightening
What is glycation and how does it lead to skin ageing and cellulite?
Glycation is the attachment of sugars to proteins and lipids, leading to what are called ‘Advanced Glycation End-products’ (AGEs in short).
The consequent damage of proteins/lipids, especially collagen and elastin, leads to:
Inflammation
Free radical formation / Oxidative damage
Fibrosis
…all of which accelerate aging, independently or in combination.
In particular, glycation of collagen and elastin in skin, blood vessels and other tissues, leads to skin ageing and microcirculation impairment.
Most people are totally unaware of glycation and its significant role in overall body ageing - and skin ageing in particular.
And even less people are aware that glycation is a major aspect of cellulite, caused by its involvement in skin and blood vessel degradation and fibrosis (skin laxity, fibrosis and poor circulation are important aspects of cellulite).
What causes glycation in the skin??
Advanced Glycation End-products / AGEs are:
Either caused by certain types of cooking
Or are created in the body due to an abundance of sugars/carbohydrates in the diet
Diabetics who have high blood sugar levels suffer disproportionately from the effects of glycation. People with insulin resistance (most people in the western world these days, after a certain age) and pre-diabetics also have high glycation levels, measured by glycated haemoglobin tests (glycosylated hemoglobin, HbA1c or A1c).
The type of cooking that leads to the appearance of Advanced Glycation End-products / AGE is high temperature cooking:
Frying
Charring
Broiling
Toasting until black
Roasting until black
Smoking of food
Smoking of alcohol (e.g. whiskey)
In general, consuming a lot of sugar or starches can lead to high glycation levels in the body.
Additionally, cigarette smoking is another major cause of glycation, but luckily smoking is on the decrease in most Western countries today.
Examples of glycation causing, and thereby cellulite-causing, foods
The following are typical examples of a high-carb and a high-protein food that can raise AGEs in the body:
Donuts, a mix of starch, sugar, protein and fat, all deep fried at high temperature and subsequently oxidised/glycated/denatured, is a good example of the type of foods to avoid, to prevent glycation.
Chicken or meat, basted with a sweet marinade and grilled until mostly black on the outside, is another extreme example. Smoking that food in a closed BBQ grill or purposefully smoking it for hours, will further add to the glycation burden.
Find out more about how unhealthy foods cause skin ageing via glycation.
Why glycation is so important for cellulite?
As mentioned above, glycation causes oxidative damage, inflammation and fibrosis, all important aspects of cellulite.
Glycation undermines collagen and elastin integrity in skin and blood vessels, causing fibrosis in some areas and skin looseness in others, as well as poor circulation and water retention.
As sugar consumption is on the increase in the last few decades, it is no wonder that cellulite is also on the increase.
How can I reduce glycation?
As always, prevention is better than cure, so start by:
Reducing the consumption of sugars (sugar, HFCS, honey, jam, agave syrup, maple syrup, brown sugar etc) and simple carbs (white rice, “foamy” brown or white bread, granola, corn flakes etc)
Not destroying food by charring / frying / smoking / burning it
There is an additional reason not to cook food to burning point: charring, frying and smoking of food also leads to the creation of:
Carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
Carcinogenic heterocyclic amines (HCAs)
And equally detrimental to health ALEs (advanced lipoxidation end-products)
Eating out and glycation
As all the above practices are widely used in restaurants:
shallow frying, deep frying, stir frying, charring, burning, broiling, toasting and smoking
in addition to using cheap oils, lots of butter/margarine, lots of sugar and lots of salt)
…eating out often increases your glycation, skin aging, cellulite, cancer and cardiovascular disease burden.
Trying to replicate restaurant-like food at home by copying famous chefs frying and burning and frying and charring and smoking and frying again food in different ways, will have the same effect.
Most restaurant food is a liability for health. Do yourself a favour and at least cook cleanly at home.
Anti-glycation foods and nutrients
In terms of both prevention and reduction, start consuming foods and supplements known to prevent / reduce glycation:
The dipeptide carnosine is the most well-known anti-glycation agent. Acetyl-L-carnosine is even more effective, but also more expensive and difficult to source. Carnosine is contained in meat, but probably not in large enough amounts to negate the effect of high-temperature cooking.
Benfotiamine (a type of vitamin B1) and pyridoxal-5-phosphate (a type of vitamin B6) are also known to help fight glycation
Polyphenols, found in vegetables, herbs, berry and other fruits, green coffee, cocoa, green tea and gotu kola, among others, also help fight glycation. Examples include EGCG, luteolin, hesperidin, quercetin and resveratrol, among dozens of food anti-glycation polyphenols.
(Cranberry juice, for example, is a polyphenol-rich drink which has been shown to reverse glycation. We are talking about the unsweetened version, of course, not the sugary junk drink, which would probably increase glycation - or not work.)
Several of the above nutrients can are be included in a tiny number of high quality anti-ageing / anti-cellulite creams.
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As strong, deep acting radiofrequency and deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation are the technologies of choice for skin tightening and cellulite reduction, we have invested in the best RF/ultrasound technologies in the world.
(Of course, we keep looking for new technologies every day and if/when a better technology materialises we will be the first to provide it. However, we will never follow the latest ineffective gimmick, just because it’s good marketing to offer the latest hyped up - yet ineffective and/or unsafe treatment.)
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We are proud to be the first and only cellulite clinic in the world to offer Cellulite Ultrasonography™ to our clients, for accurate assessment, better treatment and enhanced results. Since 2022 we have assessed and provided valuable insights to hundreds of clients to better understand their specific case, see how their skin looks from inside and make informed decisions.
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Cellulite
Skin laxity
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You can also assess the presence and severity of fibrosis and adhesions after:
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Cellulite surgery, such as cellulaze, cellutite, cellfina, subcision etc
Face-lift surgery
Non-surgical procedures, such as RF microneedling, extreme intensity HIFU, extreme intensity RF, extreme intensity ultrasound etc
Everything will be shown and explained to you clearly and you can see and understand how the different structures inside your skin affect your appearance.
If there is scar tissue / fibrosis, those will be clearly seen and you can differentiate between fibrosis, water retention or unremoved fat after all types of cosmetic surgery or harsh non-surgical procedures such as RF microneedling, extreme intensity HIFU etc.
(DISCLAIMER: Please note that this service is for your informational purposes only and does not constitute medical diagnosis or advice.)
The 45’ appointment includes full assessment and consultation and optional treatment plan for cellulite reduction and/or skin tightening.
If you do wish to have treatment with us, the ultrasound scan, assessment and consultation will be used to optimise your course of treatments and maximise your results.
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