Medicine: Battle of the Bulges

Since 1973, some 200,000 U.S. women have spent $12.95 for a book telling them how to get rid of a substance some call cellulite* (pronounced cell-u-leet), which supposedly accumulates beneath the skin to form unsightly dimples and bulges. Now thousands more, lured by television commercials, are shelling out $5.95 for a paperback version of the same book. As a result, Cellulite (Bantam Books) is on some newspaper bestseller lists. Nutritionists, who consider the book’s premises unsound though essentially harmless, are shaking their heads in amusement—or envy.

Written by Nicole Ronsard, 35-ish, an attractive Frenchwoman, the book speaks directly to women who worry about having dimpled flesh, “jodhpur thighs,” “saddlebag buttocks” and other imperfections. These are caused, says Mme. Ronsard, by cellulite, which she defines as a gel-like substance made up of fat, water and wastes that becomes trapped in lumpy, immovable pockets just beneath the skin. Cellulite cannot be burned off by conventional diets, says Ronsard; even when poundage is pared away, this “superfat” remains.

To get rid of it, Ronsard, who studied esthétique corporelle (body aesthetics) at a Paris école supérieure, recommends a diet that eliminates those foods she believes will leave behind the “toxic wastes” that contribute to cellulite. The low-salt diet includes raw vegetables and fruit, skim milk, lean meats, poultry and fish. It also includes plenty of water to help flush out the system and foods chosen to assist the kidneys and digestive tract in the elimination of wastes. In addition, Ronsard recommends deep breathing, exercises such as jogging and gymnastics, massage to break up cellulite deposits, and relaxing to relieve tension.

Faulty Physiology. Doctors generally find fault with Ronsard’s physiology. What the author calls cellulite is plain ordinary fat and certainly not toxic wastes, says Physiologist Marci Greenwood, a research associate at Columbia University’s Institute of Human Nutrition. The dimpling effect, says Greenwood, often is caused by the loss of skin elasticity that occurs with aging. Nor is there any way to get rid of the dimpling. Exercise and proper diet may improve skin and muscle tone and make this excess adipose tissue less obvious, but it will not make it go away. Says Greenwood: “Body type, like hair color and the distance between your eyes, is inherited, and the same is true for the distance between your fatty deposits.”

Although they reject Ronsard’s rationale, most doctors consider her dietary suggestions healthful, and agree with her that American women should smoke and drink less, exercise more and learn to relax.

*Not related to cellulitis, an inflammation of connective tissue.