The story of Abby, a young woman in her mid twenties, is an inspiring example of the power of DMAE in a lotion formulated for the body.

"Thank you for seeing me Dr. Perricone," Abby said at her appointment. "Strictly speaking, I am not consulting you about a medical problem," she confessed, "however, it still distresses me greatly. I asked her what "it" was. "Even though I exercise and work out, I feel flabby," she admitted. "My upper arms and upper thighs don’t have the smooth, toned look they had when I was in my teens. My workouts are the same but I just don’t have the firmed, toned look I used to have. Is there anything I can do?"

Abby further admitted she had been considering liposuction—a pretty drastic step with potentially dangerous side effects. I explained to Abby that there are many contributing factors in developing this kind of dimpling on thighs and upper arms. These can include hormonal changes, weight gain and even genetics.

While we cannot change our genetic predispositions, we can take control over our hormonal changes and our weight. The first critical strategy was to get Abby on the anti-inflammatory diet. Pro-inflammatory high-glycemic carbohydrates can cause us to store fat rather than burn it for energy. Like many women, Abby grabbed a bagel, orange juice and coffee for breakfast and a baked potato with non-fat sour cream for lunch. Pasta was a dinner staple. Unfortunately, her high-carbohydrate diet was the perfect recipe for face and figure disaster!

Why is this true?

For starters, these simple starches raise levels of the hormone insulin, causing us to store fat rather than burn it. And coffee raises levels of the hormone cortisol—often called the "death" hormone, because elevated cortisol levels accelerate aging and disease.

Fresh fruits and vegetables and quality protein such as that found in fish (especially salmon) and poultry needed to be substituted for her current regimen, if she really was serious about eliminating her problem. Hormone levels can be effectively controlled by diet. My recommended anti-inflammatory diet—that is, one low in starches and sugars but high in green vegetables and fish—keeps blood-sugar and hormonal surges at a minimum. In addition, by following my dietary guidelines, Abby would eliminate pockets of stored fat in her thighs and upper arms.

Six weeks went by and I was just getting ready to leave the office for the day when Abby walked in. Her face was wreathed in smiles as she greeted me. "Well, Abby," I said, "I don’t think I need to ask you how you are, as I can see that you look fantastic!" And she did. Her skin not only looked firmed and toned, it was radiant. "I just had to come by and thank you Dr. Perricone. I am so delighted with the results. Not only is the lumpy, orange peel skin gone, my skin has a new radiance and smoothness."

As I admired Abby’s successful results I couldn’t help but remember my early years working with topical DMAE and noting how dramatically the right formulation could improve the appearance of skin tone. It took me many years of trial and error to create the most potent and efficacious formulas tailored to specific areas of the face and body, but every time I see the visible results and they joy they bring, I know that every minute was worth it!