Cellulite in men vs. women

**superbeast** · 10-10-2002, 10:49 AM

A female friend of mine asked me this the other day and it really stumped me. Why do women that are fat have cellulite (fat ripples, AKA cottage cheese) while men that are fat don't? I never really thought about it before, but it does seem to be true. Anybody have any ideas why that is?

SB

**Cali** · 10-10-2002, 11:06 AM

Yeah, why is that??

For once I might wish I were a guy...

**jeffylyte** · 10-10-2002, 11:48 AM

A few reasons. Its helps to know what cellulite is. Simply too much subcutaneous fatj streches the skin causing damage to the structural support proteins (namely collagen and elastin). The reasons why women get it more are namely:

1) Estrogen. Cellulite is very estrogen sensitive. This is why certain topical creams seem to work (ie antagonistic action). Of course delivery is inefficient.
2) Women have higher fat content than men.
3) Women have different fat localizations than men. a) Specifically are more prone to fat on the cellulite areas of hips, but and thighs. b) Are more prone to subcutaneous fat deposites, whereras men have more intramuscular and organ fat deposites.
4) Lack of testosterone . This increases fat content and lowers muscle (leading to #2). Testosterone also acts on fat to release energy (as in the topical creams. sometimes they have an androgenic agonist). Testosterone also helps to repair tissue damage that occurs to the skin structural support proteins.

There are many reasons, but these come to mind.

Hope this helps