Broccoli Cures Cellulite, Studies Show

Posted: Apr 6, 08 11:08am

I have to confess that I am addicted to those little nuggets in magazines which sum up the latest in self-help advice. Usually they begin with “Studies show . . .” or “Scientists report . . .” and follow with the latest over-simplified factlet from academia. News you can use. Recently I learned while getting my hair cut that if you’re are worried about cellulite, broccoli is an effective remedy.

This made sense. I knew from my extensive reading in the self-help genre that broccoli’s healthful properties appear to surpass those of any other vegetable. If consuming salmon four times a week will give you glowing skin (as studies certainly have shown), why shouldn’t a diet consisting mainly of broccoli banish cellulite.

Closer inspection revealed that this was not what scientists have recently shown.

In order to release its anti-cellulite properties, the broccoli is not eaten, but steamed, blended and rubbed as a topical solution on the offending lumps.

(Before we leave the topic of cellulite, I myself have a finding to report: Not only do French women not get fat, they also do not get cellulite. My field research was done at a steam bath in Paris, where I was the only American among Frenchwomen of all ages and body types. The only cellulite lumps in evidence were mine.)

You might think women’s magazines were the main offenders in the “Studies show . . .” game. But my promiscuous browsing tells me this is not so. In New Scientist, a British science magazine my husband subscribes to, I recently learned, courtesy of a 150-word paragraph, that drinking lots of water does not confer a raft of benefits, as previous studies have shown, but instead is a waste of time. Contrarian advice is a common subgenre of snappy research reports. “Studies now show . . .” in other words. In a few years I expect to learn that rubbing broccoli on your thighs can cause skin cancer. In mice.

As a former magazine editor, I know just how this works. A press release announcing “Studies now show ..” or “Scientists now report . . .” is especially prized because of its attention-getting qualities. . By picking up on the news, the magazine can save readers from following widely disseminated, but erroneous, advice. And since the magazine has probably already published a “Studies show…” item based on the earlier, flawed research, it also means that the topic has provided not one, but two morsels of marketable copy.

If “Studies show . . .” news is regularly followed by contradictory “Studies now show,” why give any credence to these supposedly helpful nuggets. Good question. When confronted with the latest “studies,” I am as credulous as anyone else. Still, half-believing this stuff is not the same as acting on it, and you won’t find me dumping broccoli in the blender any time soon.