Cellulite diet

Dimpled thighs and bums have been the scourge of bikini-wearing women the world over, but can changing your diet really help combat cellulite?

If you're suffering from the orange-peel effects of cellulite, you're not alone. Around 90% of the world's female population suffers from it, though it's more common in caucasian women. What's more it doesn't discriminate between fat or thin, rich or poor - even celebrities can't escape. Paris Hilton, Sienna Miller and Jerry Hall (to name but a few) have all been 'papped' with wobbly skin on show.

What is cellulite?

Cellulite is just ordinary body fat, but with age the fibres that connect the skin to the muscles get shorter and thicken which makes the skin look lumpy. A multi-million pound beauty industry has been quick to react to the problem by offering hundreds of lotions, potions and pills. But is there a simpler, cheaper alternative?

The right stuff

Depriving yourself is not the answer, but eating the right kind of foods, drinking (you've guessed it) lots of water and exercising will pay dividends in the long run.

Diet

It's time to ditch the chips, biscuits and cakes if you want to be dimple free. Although cellulite affects fat and thin people alike, the more fat you have in the first place, the more likely you are to exacerbate the problem. If you also go the extreme route of a crash diet the outcome will be to highlight your lumps and bumps because you'll have lost muscle tone. The key here is a balanced diet.

Foods to eat

Enjoy fibre-rich foods like beans, lentils, fruit, vegetables and wholegrain bread, pasta and brown rice; lean protein such as chicken and turkey and grilled or baked fish. Low-fat yoghurt and milk can also be eaten in moderation, as can healthy fats such pumpkin and sunflower seeds and nuts. To keep it simple look for foods that are as natural as possible, ie not your average take-away meal. For more information visit Dax Moy's smart eating plan.

Foods to avoid

Highly refined products like white sugar, white bread, white rice and white pasta, fatty meat and foods containing hydrogenated fats like cakes and pastries should be avoided like the plague. The 'good foods' are mainly high in fibre or are diuretics (help remove excess water) thus they help to flush out toxins from your system. The 'foods to avoid' simply clog it up.

Exercise

Get back in action and your body will thank you by burning up those unwanted pockets of fat. While walking, cycling and other cardiovascular exercise is good, you also need to be challenging your muscles. Fitness expert Dax Moy is a firm believer in using strength-based exercises at least three times a week. His view is that with over 600 muscles in the human body, it just doesn't make sense to train the way most people do by isolating different muscles and blasting them to death.

So there you have it. Until the beauty industry comes up with a miracle cure, healthy eating, plenty of liquid and exercise are the key to keeping cottage-cheese skin under control.

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