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Battle of the Bulge

Aired June 25, 2003 - 13:39   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, they are the kind of dimples that nobody really wants. We're talking about cellulite. No matter how much you exercise, it's very tough to control. Those anti- cellulite creams on the market, do they actually help?
We're talking about cellulite. No matter how much you exercise, it's very tough to control. Many anti-cellulite creams on the market -- do they actually help?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Miles doesn't have to worry about it.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: How did I get in the middle of this discussion?

PHILLIPS: Miles, literally, you should just back up, because you know, this is a woman thing.

COHEN: It is a woman thing, and I'll explain why later it is.

O'BRIEN: You guys talk amongst yourselves.

COHEN: Kyra and I will have our own private conversation here.

To prove that the world really is run by men, only women get cellulite. I think that's proof enough.

PHILLIPS: It's so unfair. It's just not right.

COHEN: It's so unfair, and you can even get it if you're not overweight.

But you mentioned the cream, so we'll talk about the creams a bit. What we did to prepare for this story is went to just your basic drugstore, and we bought some of the many cellulite creams they had on the shelves. And we took a look at them and we found that they all made the exact same claim. They all say "reduces the appearance of cellulite." They all used that specific warning. So we called the Food and Drug Administration. And we said, what's up with that? They all claim to do the exact same thing with the exact same words. And they said, well, that's because you can claim to reduce the appearance of cellulite and put anything in a bottle. I said, you mean If I put cornstarch in a bottle, I can claim that it reduces the appearance of cellulite? And the spokeswoman for the FDA said, sure, absolutely. So that sort of answers a question that you might have about what they're allowed to claim and not claim. Now if they claim it got rid of the cellulite inside your body, that would be a different story. But according to the FDA, if it doesn't do any harm, in other words, if it's not going to hurt, they can claim to reduce the appearance. According to government regulators and to dermatologists we spoke to, they know of no good, independent studies that show these work.

O'BRIEN: So when you make that claim, I suppose shoe polish, and duct tape and pantyhose would also apply, yes?

COHEN: Right, anything.

PHILLIPS: Control top hose works great, squeezes it all.

COHEN: That's right, that would reduce the appearance of cellulite.

PHILLIPS: Did you test any of these? Have they been tested? Do any work in any way?

COHEN: Well, according to the folks we talked to, none of them work in real scientific studies. We said to a couple of dermatologists, does that mean that you shouldn't buy these? We got an interesting answer, several dermatologists said, look, if you want to go out and buy these and try them, go right ahead. They're not going to do you any harm, and it is possible that one of them might work for you. They all have different ingredients. And even, though, There's no good, independent studies that show they work, but maybe one will work for you.

So treat it as a trip to Vegas, decide how much money you're willing to spend, spend that amount of money and use the creams. Try each of them for about 30 days. If it doesn't work, so you've wasted money, these, the ones we have here, cost anywhere between $5 to $25. There's also some that cost more than $100. But if you think it works for you, go right ahead.

O'BRIEN: Is it psychological, or is it really something that these things do?

COHEN: Well, we did talk to one dermatologist, who has his own product out, I must add, that he thinks there is some validity to some of these claims. He thinks that there is some validity to some of these ingredients. But, again, I'll say it again, according to government regulator we talked to, as well as to dermatologists, there are no good, independent studies that say these work, but there's also no risk to trying it. The only risk is that you've lost the money. So if you try it and it works for you, hey, that's fabulous, you've won the gamble.

PHILLIPS: I remember my mom one time coming one with it's like a scrub...

COHEN: Yes, tried that, too, but we never answered the male/female question. So I feel compelled to do that since I asked Miles to step aside. The reason why women have cellulite and men don't, is cellulite is just plain old fat, like all other fat, except with women it can get caught like in these little honeycombs. If you can imagine a honeycomb and fat caught in each of those little cells, that's what cellulite is. That's how you get that sort of cottage cheese feeling. Men don't have that same honeycomb structure.

PHILLIPS: Why don't they have honeycombs.

COHEN: They just don't; they've got something else, but they don't have that. So there you go.

PHILLIPS: They get the pooch.

O'BRIEN: Yes. Excuse me, we are so past too much information now that we have got to stop this. I'm sorry, Elizabeth.

PHILLIPS: You're saying that because you're a man. You're a man, that's why you're saying that.

Do me a favor, save one of those for me, I'll save one for you.

COHEN: Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: I'll try the foam one. Thanks, Elizabeth.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired June 25, 2003 - 13:39   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, they are the kind of dimples that nobody really wants. We're talking about cellulite. No matter how much you exercise, it's very tough to control. Those anti- cellulite creams on the market, do they actually help?
We're talking about cellulite. No matter how much you exercise, it's very tough to control. Many anti-cellulite creams on the market -- do they actually help?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Miles doesn't have to worry about it.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: How did I get in the middle of this discussion?

PHILLIPS: Miles, literally, you should just back up, because you know, this is a woman thing.

COHEN: It is a woman thing, and I'll explain why later it is.

O'BRIEN: You guys talk amongst yourselves.

COHEN: Kyra and I will have our own private conversation here.

To prove that the world really is run by men, only women get cellulite. I think that's proof enough.

PHILLIPS: It's so unfair. It's just not right.

COHEN: It's so unfair, and you can even get it if you're not overweight.

But you mentioned the cream, so we'll talk about the creams a bit. What we did to prepare for this story is went to just your basic drugstore, and we bought some of the many cellulite creams they had on the shelves. And we took a look at them and we found that they all made the exact same claim. They all say "reduces the appearance of cellulite." They all used that specific warning. So we called the Food and Drug Administration. And we said, what's up with that? They all claim to do the exact same thing with the exact same words. And they said, well, that's because you can claim to reduce the appearance of cellulite and put anything in a bottle. I said, you mean If I put cornstarch in a bottle, I can claim that it reduces the appearance of cellulite? And the spokeswoman for the FDA said, sure, absolutely. So that sort of answers a question that you might have about what they're allowed to claim and not claim. Now if they claim it got rid of the cellulite inside your body, that would be a different story. But according to the FDA, if it doesn't do any harm, in other words, if it's not going to hurt, they can claim to reduce the appearance. According to government regulators and to dermatologists we spoke to, they know of no good, independent studies that show these work.

O'BRIEN: So when you make that claim, I suppose shoe polish, and duct tape and pantyhose would also apply, yes?

COHEN: Right, anything.

PHILLIPS: Control top hose works great, squeezes it all.

COHEN: That's right, that would reduce the appearance of cellulite.

PHILLIPS: Did you test any of these? Have they been tested? Do any work in any way?

COHEN: Well, according to the folks we talked to, none of them work in real scientific studies. We said to a couple of dermatologists, does that mean that you shouldn't buy these? We got an interesting answer, several dermatologists said, look, if you want to go out and buy these and try them, go right ahead. They're not going to do you any harm, and it is possible that one of them might work for you. They all have different ingredients. And even, though, There's no good, independent studies that show they work, but maybe one will work for you.

So treat it as a trip to Vegas, decide how much money you're willing to spend, spend that amount of money and use the creams. Try each of them for about 30 days. If it doesn't work, so you've wasted money, these, the ones we have here, cost anywhere between $5 to $25. There's also some that cost more than $100. But if you think it works for you, go right ahead.

O'BRIEN: Is it psychological, or is it really something that these things do?

COHEN: Well, we did talk to one dermatologist, who has his own product out, I must add, that he thinks there is some validity to some of these claims. He thinks that there is some validity to some of these ingredients. But, again, I'll say it again, according to government regulator we talked to, as well as to dermatologists, there are no good, independent studies that say these work, but there's also no risk to trying it. The only risk is that you've lost the money. So if you try it and it works for you, hey, that's fabulous, you've won the gamble.

PHILLIPS: I remember my mom one time coming one with it's like a scrub...

COHEN: Yes, tried that, too, but we never answered the male/female question. So I feel compelled to do that since I asked Miles to step aside. The reason why women have cellulite and men don't, is cellulite is just plain old fat, like all other fat, except with women it can get caught like in these little honeycombs. If you can imagine a honeycomb and fat caught in each of those little cells, that's what cellulite is. That's how you get that sort of cottage cheese feeling. Men don't have that same honeycomb structure.

PHILLIPS: Why don't they have honeycombs.

COHEN: They just don't; they've got something else, but they don't have that. So there you go.

PHILLIPS: They get the pooch.

O'BRIEN: Yes. Excuse me, we are so past too much information now that we have got to stop this. I'm sorry, Elizabeth.

PHILLIPS: You're saying that because you're a man. You're a man, that's why you're saying that.

Do me a favor, save one of those for me, I'll save one for you.

COHEN: Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: I'll try the foam one. Thanks, Elizabeth.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com