May 26, 1999
There's a growing controversy over those popular new cellulite pills.
Medical experts say there's no proof they work. Manufacturers claim they do.
Who do you believe?
News Specialist Nadine Wimmer put the pills to the test. Now, the results are in.
That's right, six weeks ago we found some women who've tried to exercise away their cellulite, and were ready to try these products:
Cellasene and Cell Pill.
This isn't scientific, it's not official, but it is something you can see for yourself to decide if you think it worked.
The proof is in the pictures, but the differences are even more noticeable in person than they are on our cameras.
Even so, the "after" stomach on the right does seem to look smoother.
One woman's rear end seems to be more defined. The true test-- she says her husband actually noticed.
Another woman sees a small difference in the before and after of her trouble spot.
Another woman swears by the difference she sees when she looks in the mirror at aerobics.
Even the slightest difference in lighting will change the appearance of cellulite.
So we tried to recreate each before and after shot the same.
Still, by the end of our test
one woman says she saw no difference at all after taking her supply of pills.
She gave the product a thumbs down.
But the rest of our testers said, "It's not an overnight thing, it's definitely not a weight loss thing, but something is occuring in the skin layers."
"I love it. I think it works, it really works."
"I'm still skeptical." But encouraged? "Absolutely, encouraged."
Those glowing remarks aren't shared in the medical community.
In fact, there's so much pressure to offer proof that these expensive pills work
the manufacturers of Cellasene announced they'll conduct clinical trials in the U.S. and
release details of their initial studies in Europe.
Dr. Enzo Berardesca, of the University of Pavia, Italy, says, "The cellulite was measured by objective methodology, using laser symmetry, ultra sound and tape measurements of thigh circumference."
But many women aren't waiting for science, they're jumping at the chance to wage their own war against the nemesis of many women known as cellulite.
One told us, "There isn't a woman who knows I'm doing this that isn't keeping their fingers crossed."
Don't get off the stair stepper just yet.
Our unscientific test by no means proves or disproves that the cellulite pills work.
