If you’re desperate to get rid of your cellulite, reading this article might (finally) change your mind. According to a new study published in the journal Diabetesin November 2022, it could actually benefit your health and especially protect your brain.
Indeed, the subcutaneous fat – the one that is under the skin and that causes cellulite – would protect against brain inflammation, itself the cause of problems such as dementia and cerebrovascular accidents (CVA), and this at least until menopause in adult women. And while researchers aren’t sure exactly why subcutaneous fat seems to have this protective virtue, previous research has linked this protection to estrogen, which would act as a natural anti-inflammatory.
AT Conversely, men of all ages tend to accumulate fat around the major organs of their abdominal cavity (the famous beer belly), called visceral adiposity, known to be much more inflammatory. After menopause, women produce less estrogen, store more visceral fat and less subcutaneous fat, and therefore become more at risk for chronic diseases.
To understand where this brain inflammation came from, the researchers looked at fatty tissue and sex hormone levels, as well as brain inflammation rates in male mice and female mice as they grew in weight on a rich diet. in fats. And like humans, obese female mice tended to have more subcutaneous fat, and less visceral fat.
Beware of liposuction
But after undergoing liposuction, their levels of inflammation increased significantly. “When we took subcutaneous fat out of the equation, all of a sudden women’s brains started showing inflammation like male brains do, and women gained more visceral fat.“, says Stranahan.”It kind of diverted everything to that other storage location.”.
What are the lessons to be learned from this study? First of all, “don’t do liposuction”claims Stranahan, before recommending following a high-fat diet.
According to her, the BMI would not be a very reliable tool to indicate the risk of weight for health. The waist-to-hip ratio would be more accurate of metabolic risk and potentially brain health. “We cannot just talk about obesity. We need to start talking about where the fat is. This is the critical element here“, she concludes.
Be careful though: the study does not recommend that women deliberately gain weight to gain fat around the thighs, obesity or overweight can increase the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease .
Source :
- Sex Differences in Adipose Tissue Distribution Determine Susceptibility to Neuroinflammation in Mice With Dietary Obesity, DiabetesNovember 2022
