CELLULITE: TIPS TO MINIMISE THE DIMPLE EFFECT

Dimples are adorable, yet when they're on butts and thighs, most of us admonish them as biological traitors. If you can't come to terms with the fact that cellulite is normal (really), we've road-tested ways to down play the orange peel.

You'd think in an era when we can send people to the moon, buy gym shorts without venturing into a change room, and create life like prosthetic limbs (yes, we do realise that answers a leai problem), you'd think science could do something about cellulite. After all, most women have it and go to an awfull lot of trouble to hide it.

Yet the deposits of subcutaneous fat (meaning fat just underneath the skin) and fibrous tissue that cause the maligned "dimple" effect aie trickier to burn off than garden variety adipose tissue.

Getting rid of cellulite entirely is impossible. All one can do is reduce the size of the cells that are causing the appearance of the dimpled skin. As always, diet and exercise are paramount to maintaining a healthy body, both inside and out Why are women harder hit than men? According to Melbourne's Dr Andrew Roberts, we can blame the size of our fat cells, which are double the size of our male counterparts'.

"They are arranged perpendicularly to the skin's surface and women have less firm cormective tissue than men, while their fibres are also arranged differently - so when the fat layers increase they can only grow upwards, which results in the appearance of pimpled and dimpled skin surfaces," says Dr Roberts.

How stark your cellulite is rests largely on genetics. Genes determine how many fat cells our bodies will hold and that threshold cannot change. Growth of individual fat cells, however, may lead to the visual hallmarks we know as cellulite.

While you mightn't be able to make it disappear, there are plenty of DIY ways to minimise the dimple effect.

TIP 1: Avoid processed foods and alcohol as they Increase body foKins, which are then stored in fat cells. This is why slim people with poor lifestyle habits exhibit cellulite.

TIP 2: Invest in healthy foods ond green juices instead of quick fixes. The problem lies beneath the skin where most topical treatments do not reach.

TIP 3: Pay attention to your hormones. Avoid things that increase unnecessory oestrogen intake such as bottled water and too much dairy.

TIP 4: Try body brushing and massage to increase blood flow and stimulate the lymphotic system beneath the skin.

TIP 5: Your body needs collagen to smooth out dimples so make sure you have a diet high in collagen-building nutrients like vitamin C and essential fatty acids.

TIP 6: Stretch for 10-15  minutes a day to improve circulation and increase the appearance of muscle. Saunas are also great for sweating our toxins.

TIP 7: Proteins in chicken, beef, fish, nuts, legumes and beans help strengthen collagen fibre and reduce cellulite appearance.