Why Liposuction Doesn't Work

This is the time of year when our thoughts turn to liposuction. As summer approaches, many of us are despairing that we'll ever be swimsuit ready. Could lipo be the answer to jelly bellies and cottage-cheese thighs?

Maybe not, according to a study in the journal Obesity. Researchers from the University of Colorado found that fat clings stubbornly to our poor bodies. Even when it's sucked out with liposuction, it returns – to another part of our anatomy.

In the study, liposuction was performed on the thighs or lower abdomens of a group of non-obese women. Another group of women served as the control; they had no surgery.

The women were measured after six weeks, six months and a year.

The researchers found that the back came back although no to the part of the body that had undergone liposuction. Instead, it appeared in the upper abdomen, shoulders and triceps. Obesity researchers interviewed in The New York Times about the study said they weren't surprised that the fat came back since the body "defends" its fat whether you lose it by lipo or by dieting. Every time a fat cell dies, a new one takes its place.

On the other hand, losing fat in your thighs and regaining it somewhere else isn't necessarily the worst thing in the world – especially when the beach is calling.