Lipolimphodemia and a Plant Based Diet
Lymphedema Diet: Is Plant-Based Eating Best for this Condition?
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If you have lymphedema, you've probably wondered what the best diet is for the condition. So have I. If you read my story, you'll see that I have been able to partially reverse my lymphedema with the help of chinese herbs, tui na massage and a plant-based diet.
Of course, with natural remedies, its difficult to pinpoint exactly how much each contributed to the success. Or maybe these things work synergisticly. But I also know that I started having symptoms of lymphedema in my late 20s and early 30s but it didn't progress until in my 40s. I credit that to my mostly plant-based diet.
How would a plant-based diet help lymphedema? Well, plant-based diets are anti-inflammatory and help your body stay healthy. Anyone with lymphedema is dealing with an impaired lymphatic system. Whether you were born with it or whether your condition is a result of surgery, we all share one thing: a weakened or blocked lymphatic system.
Given that, my goal has always been to make the most of what I do have when it comes to lymphatic system functioning. So why not give your body the nutrition it needs to repair itself, so it can run as efficiently as it is capable of. I believe a whole food plant-based diet can do just that.
What is a whole food plant-based diet?
A whole-food plant-based diet (WFPB for short) is not a diet but a way of eating. It is where you eat mostly whole foods and stick with plant based. So it is vegan meaning no animal products.
What can it do for lymphedema?
Most people eat the "standard American diet". This not only does that not help your body maintain health, it actually contributes to or causes a myriad of diseases. It creates inflammation and puts a burden on your body, forcing it to work harder to rid itself of things that don't promote health.
On the other hand a WFPB, or even a 90% WFPB diet, can dramatically enhance your health.
Now I know there are many people out there who discredit a vegan or plant based diet. Frankly, I'm not sure why, but as someone who is concerned about my own health, I'm always open to listening to any and all evidence. After all, if the price is my health, I want to know sooner rather than later.
I've never seen anything credible about problems with the vegan diet. From what I've seen, most of it is from either non-MD types including dentists, health writers or even medical students. Or, it may come from MDs with specialties outside of nutrition who talk about an area they have little real expertise on. On the other hand, the evidence for this type of diet is impressive.
The China Study, for example, is one ofthe largest comprehensive studies of human nutrition ever conducted. It was done by a partnership between Cornell University, Oxford University, and the Chinese Academy of Preventative Medicine, with data collected over a span of 20 years. Colin Campbell, PhD, and his son, Thomas M. Campbell II, MD, discuss and analyze the results from the study. It is important work. I'd highly recommend reading the book, but here's also a nice cheat sheet summarizing a bit about it.
Even easier, check out the movie Forks Over Knives on Netflix.
NutritionFacts.org is also a great resource, with short 3 minute videos on all types of topics. Since it's based on actual research by another MD from Cornell University, I find it to be a credible resource.
How hard is this diet?
Once you transition to it, I believe it will be the easiest "diet" you ever try. Why? Well you can pretty much eat what you want, in most cases, and your weight will just normalize if you stay active.
While you might want to change gradually so your taste buds adjust, you'll start to feel great. You'll see yourself look and feel younger. And most people lose excess weight automatically, without having to cut down. You'll also feel more energized so you will want to be more active. Read stories of people's health transformations at www.forksoverknives.com.
Most importantly, you're giving your body a chance here. Instead of taxing your lymphatic system, your diet will help support it in running as efficiently as possible.
Painless weight loss
There is significant evidence out there that obesity can impact lymphedema. With a truly whole-foods plant based diet, you don't need to count calories. You'll be eating food that is higher volume and naturally mostly lower in fat. Most people find their weight will normalize. Check out this short video if you're interested in more on this.
What about Keto or Paleo for Lymphedema?
It appears some people are having luck with these diets for lymphedema. However any weight loss likely benefits the condition. The problem is that these diets are controversial for a reason: there's not much evidence to support these are actually good for you.
Our health is too precious. I don't want to experiment and damage my body so I will choose the healthy route, vegetables over bacon, butter or chicken. While you may have a short term benefit if Keto or Paleo suppresses your appetite, all that flesh and fat will likely catch up with your body.
There's a lot of people out there that try keto or paleo and end up having issues like high cholesterol, heart problems, lead poisoning, you name it. With WFPB, you are switching to a diet that is health promoting, not just weight loss promoting.
If you're dealing with lymphedema you've already got a compromised system. I personally would not do anything else to burden my body.
Isn't it hard to eat plant-based?
No, it's actually the opposite. Switching to a WFPB diet helped free me from having to worry about calories. If you eat this way and just move a lot, you will usually naturally move toward your best weight. So being able to eat what I wanted far outweighed needing to just make sure I had the right foods on hand. And once my husband and I started cooking this way, it was easy and fun.
However, I would highly recommend you learn how to cook plant-based. Google plant-based cooking for online recipes, courses and other information.
Does it require 100% compliance?
No. In the China Study book, Dr. Colin Campbell states that you can avoid most disease by keeping animal products to less than 10% of your diet. So you can get the benefits without going 100%.
I also recommend that you start slow instead of going cold turkey. Notice how you feel. Everyone seems to notice that after meals, you'll feel good instead of slow and stuffed. Start with one meal a day, then add more. Keep a cheat day if you need it. This is not about forcing yourself to do it. You'll soon see how much better you feel on a plant-based diet and the remainder of the transition will be mostly effort-free.
The key is to learn how to cook with plant based foods. You can make almost anything and make it even taste better. Fortunately millions of people are paving the way and making it easier. Also you can seek out vegan restaurants in your area for options to go out. But even regular restaurants are increasingly adding vegan options, so it's easy now.
What do you eat on a WFPB diet?
For lymphedema, I focus on green veggies and other vegetables, since science continues to discover all the amazing compounds in these foods that can heal or reverse diseases.
Fortunately you can eat a lot of great food. Ethnic cuisines like Thai, Indian and Vietnamese can easily be veganized. You can even make a veganized mac and cheese that tastes great and is healthy, too, instead of a caloric nightmare.
Also get in the habit of trying to integrate as much veggie into these cooked foods. Surprisingly kale is a great one that if chopped up small, cooks right into most meals. And other greens like bok choy blend into almost anything, while spinach adds a great sweetness to most cooked foods.
Just google your favorite food with the word "vegan" in front of it and a bunch of recipes will pop up for you to try:
Vegan mac and cheese
Vegan pho
Vegan curry
Vegan pizza
Vegan pasta
Vegan lasagna
Other benefits
If you're a documentary lover, check out Cowspiracy. It does a great job showing how eating less animal products can save a lot more than your health. It helps the planet too, along with minimizing needless suffering of animals.
In fact, going plant based is one of the best ways to help combat climate change.
Have you tried a whole food plant-based diet, or other diet to help your lymphedema? Would love to hear about it and share experiences.
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Lipolimphodemia and a Plant Based Diet
Source: https://fightlymphedema.com/plant-based-diet-for-lymphedema/
19 Comments
I do not see anything in this article that actually says a vegan diet is helpful for lymphodema. It is just exactly what all vegans preach all the time just with the word " lymphodema" thrown in.
I am not trying to be mean spirited just stating what I see.
Changing to a vegetarian is a hard leap for most people but has health and personal value to many. However, I do not understand the point of veganism – nothing ( that I know of) has shown that honey – for example- is bad for people or the bees. And I see nothing in this article that would incentivize me to give up food that I love for a stark deprecation diet. It doesn't help you lose weight and, except for some odd moralistic high ground that vegans seem to place themselves on – really just makes most people miserable.
If I missed something- please explain to me – I am willing to listen and consider your point.
Hi Lynette, thanks for reading and commenting! I am 99% vegan and so obviously that is my point of view, but there is substantial research that shows that eating animal products is harmful to personal health as well as the environment. After following the research, I chose to eat that way most of the time.
Other people do the same: Bill Clinton, after years of heart issues, decided to go vegan: https://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/info-08-2013/bill-clinton-vegan.html. Here's a CNBC article about more NFL players going vegan: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/31/why-nfl-players-and-other-athletes-are-going-vegan.html.
Being vegan definitely helps people lose weight, effortlessly, and look and feel dramatically better in the process. That's because if you eat veggies, beans and grains with fiber, its more filling and you can eat alot more for less calories. Check out this video: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/eating-more-to-weigh-less/. These days its easy, just type in your favorite foods into google and you'll find smart people have already devised vegan ways to make those things taste good. And then you can eat what you love knowing its not longer bad for you.
Vegan diets also have been shown to reverse heart disease (see Dr. Esseltyn's work at the Cleveland Clinic https://my.clevelandclinic.org/departments/wellness/integrative/disease-reversal) as well as other disorders. (See Dr. Ornish https://www.ornish.com/site-certification/#section_clinical-outcomes.).
If your heart and circulatory system run far better on a vegan diet–so much so that it can actually reverse heart disease–why wouldn't your lymphatic system also do as well? It works for me and I'm hearing from more people that it is helping them too. I haven't yet heard from someone who tried it and it did not work…I would love to hear from them too as we just need to gather data on what can help all of us handle this nasty condition.
Then there's the impact on the planet. This is where people just cutting down and eating 1/2 of the meat they eat now could have a huge impact. Here's something recent from the UN: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jun/02/un-report-meat-free-diet
But its definitely everyone's choice. If you're battling lymphedema and its scary enough, might be a worth a try. You can always go back to the way you ate before. Best of luck to you whatever you choose to try and please let us know what you find that is working, as we can all benefit!
Weight loss on a plant based diet will improve your lymphedema. The high amount of antioxidants in fruits and vegetables and anti inflammatory power a whole food plant based diet can only help. As energy levels rise on this healthy diet, movement and exercise will also increase, reducing lymphedema. Works for me!
Hi Carrie, well said…that's exactly my experience too! Glad to hear its working for you too. 🙂
Nice post! I really learned a lot from this especially about lymphydema diet. Thanks a lot for posting!
My husband and I started a WFPB 3 weeks ago. I have had some issues that pointed to a possible autoimmune disease, and had two doctors (GP and Opthomalgic) suggest testing. Thankfully the markers came back negative. After a lot of research, i found that WFPB is recommended highly to help our bodies heal from inflammatory attacks. I also have an impaired lymphatic system (Lipedma-not Lymphedema). I was trying to get my husband on board going WFPB and he was not interested until he saw a Vascular Surgeon who recommended it. We are new on this journey but I have noticed some positive results in 3 weeks. I am sleeping better, my digestive system is functioning better, my mood has improved, I've lost 4 lbs without trying and I don't really feel like I am dieting because i am not counting calories. We started with just breakfast week 1, introduced lunch on week 2 and so forth. I agree that it takes a while to learn to cook in a new way. The hardest thing has been the feeling of awkwardness not knowing exactly what I'm doing and there is a LOT of food prep…chopping vegies and cooking whole grains. I didn't realize how much we relied on the boxes and envelopes of processed foods until I had to make all of the sauces from scratch. I choose to do that instead of buying many things that are available from Vegan manufacturers. Thank you again for your article, it was well written and very encouraging.
Hi Laurie, thanks for writing and for the wonderful comment. That's great that you're seeing benefits already! But I understand it does take some getting used to. My husband was like yours maybe…he didn't need to do it for weight or health, but gradually started feeling better after WFPB meals so he gradually made his way over to doing it pretty much 99% of the time. Now we both love it. But as you stated, it does require cooking from scratch, thankfully my husband is a great cook but I am learning. We usually make more and end up having leftovers that become other meals, which helps. Also not sure where you live but there's alot of indian restaurants where you can get great vegan meals, along with mexican, etc….to take a break from cooking. Have you seen that movie on netflix called The Game Changers? 🙂 That's all about this, so good motivation too. Thanks again for reading!
I am so glad I landed to this blog. I am dealing with lymphedema on my left leg only for almost 10 years now. And i just started to properly taking care of my health 2 years back I even tried keto. Due to this blog I think I would go for it hope you recovered from your lymphedema Jeanne!
Hi Mela,
Thanks for reading! Glad to hear that you will give some of this a try. Yes, I am extremely happy to report that my lymphedema is even better now. I am going to write an update shortly, but it is much better than it has ever been (and I have had this over 15 years). Hope you experience something similar too! Please let us know how it goes.
I have been on a vegan diet for just over a month and although I am generally feeling fit and healthy I have yet to see any reduction in my lympodema which only affects my right leg. I have lost some weight but have been measuring my calf size in the hope that it might show some reduction in size but nothing yet. I appreciate that a month isn't long but just wondered whether anyone had actually measured a reduction in their lympodema? I will be sticking with the vegan diet but as an encouragement to me and others it would be great if someone can genuinelly report onan actual or percentage reduction in their lymphodema swelling?
Hi James, thanks for reading. My experience is that a plant-based diet allowed me, unknowingly, to minimize the progression of lymphedema for many years. Then, when done in conjunction with chinese herbs and staying active (as described on other pages of this website), it has enabled me to mostly eliminate mine. So I think it is a first step in stopping it from moving forward, or that is my experience and my opinion only.
Would love to hear other people's takes, but over the past few years most everyone that I've talked to who has dramatically reduced their lymphedema has also been with a plant-based diet. But not sure diet change is enough firepower to actually change it. However, it is a great choice right now with the pandemic, etc. as from what I've read from researchers, eating a healthy vegan diet (with alot of veggies and fruit) keeps inflammation in your body low so you're not a good target for COVID. Here's an article by Dr Colin Campbell about that: https://plantpurecommunities.org/defense-against-covid-19/. Also this is good if you're looking for motivation: https://www.milliondollarvegan.com/
One new discovery I've had too, since you also are dealing with lower leg lymphedema, is to spend as little time as possible sitting at a desk. I've been doing that for the past six months and I'm not sure if that helps take the load off your lymphatic system or not, but it has enabled me to get rid of the last 10% or so. Very exciting! I am going to write a blog about that shortly. I know not everyone can do this, but with more people working at home, maybe others can try it too. I also have continued to do a bit of the chinese herbs every year and maybe more time is what was needed to accelerate the results, not sure.
Hopefully this is helpful, let us know how it goes!
Hi I'm curious as you mentioned that there is no studies done showing the benefits of ketogenic lifestyle? From my own research i have found that a balanced nutrient rich ketogenic lifestyle is anti inflammatory if done in a healthy way . Mark Sisson – https://www.marksdailyapple.com/ had done tons of research on this subject. Are you are familiar with his work?. or the elaborate studies done by Dominic D'Agostino?
Personally i have very mild lymphedema ( its the worst in hot weather if i drink alcohol) and it totally disappears when i remove grains and sugars from my diet, eat clean lots of veg and clean protein and healthy fat. But that just me, i realize Everyone is different but i also believe that understanding all options is important as well as responsible and finding the right fit for you is key!
Hi Maggie, thanks for your note! I am very happy you are getting results with that diet! I have seen some mentions that keto does work well for lymphedema, and if you're getting results, that's great. Short term, definitely. My only concern is long term, I have seen information from MDs and other researchers showing very negative long term consequences. I'd be careful with sources that are not science based, this "Mark" looks like he is just an athlete with no medical or nutritional studies background. Of course someone like him has practical experience, but health is critically important to quality of life, so I prefer to get my nutritional information from well-credentialed medical doctors and researchers in that field who show relevant sources–and also who avoid conflicts of interest. Here's some info on keto from sources that I personally trust: https://nutritionfacts.org/?s=keto https://nutritionstudies.org/t/ketogenic/. But I know with lymphedema, you need to go with what works, that's why I think maybe short term using it then playing with moving to a long term healthier diet. Not to mention meat and dairy's impact on the planet and factory farming's contribution to the pandemic stuff.
I've had lymphedema for years but it was not diagnosed until last week. Everyone thought it was osteoarthritis. I'm 84 years old. I have been 150 lbs overweight for at least 30 years and cannot get the weight to come off. It took moving to a new state and finding a new doctor who immediately suspected me and got me to a therapist who diagnosed and just started treatment. I decided to go vegan a month ago and have lost several pounds so far. I have all the vegan diet books so know I'm on the right path. The lymphedema is in both ankles and legs plus I feel it is also in my tummy as I have been having lots of food and stomach issues. I have been a couch potato as I don't feel good a lot of the time, but know I have to get moving. It's hard to motivate 150 extra pounds especially at my age. I also have afib which is pretty much under control. I live alone and am not a good cook, but I am keeping good food around and am doing ok.
Hi Kathleen, thanks for reading and sharing. Congratulations of finding a new doctor and making progress! It is scary that many MDs are not very aware of all of this. Hopefully you have some areas where you can walk? Walking can be addicting once you create the habit. I like to use headphones and listen to audio books or podcasts. I used to read alot but felt it was counterproductive since it is sitting, and I already sit when working, so now I listen more to audiobooks or podcasts instead. I found that getting into a good audio book is a good habit, because then you'll look forward to getting out next time. 🙂 If you need more vegan ideas, try googling simple vegan meals or something. There's so many creative people out there who have veganized classic meals and then show or write exactly how to replicate them. Some are too technical for me too as I am not a good cook either, but some are easy thankfully. Also nutritionfacts.org is a great resource to follow to keep motivated about eating vegan and the benefits of it. Best of luck and do keep us updated!
I was diagnosed with lymphedema in my left leg when I was about 21 years old – 33 years ago. After several tests for a variety of issues – it was finally concluded that my left leg swelling was lymphedema, possibly secondary to my having experienced approximately two years of amenorrhea (I think it was the Dr. chastising me for having developed an eating disorder – 4 years after having another dr. chastise me for being "too chubby" at 5′ 5″ and 128 pounds). I developed an eating disorder when I went off to college and averaged between 85 – 104 pounds. Or I guess I developed a worse eating disorder – I'd had issues for a few years. Maybe that did exacerbate some issue in my body that contributed to lymphedema. I was young and trying to be attractive in a very confusing world of "carbs/no carbs/exercise till you burn" etc., prevalent in the 80's and continuing today). Or they said maybe a bee sting on the back of that leg's knee – my whole leg swelled for a couple weeks before subsiding the summer before the lymphedema showed up the next summer one year later. No one really knew, and it probably had many contributing factors. But there was no hope given as stated in various places on this website. Being pre-internet, I replaced my obsession to be thin with an equal obsession to heal ( I think I am prone to perfection obsessions but that's another whole issue and topic!) and scoured medical journals in my college's library. As a result I added things to my diet which greatly diminished the swelling for at least a decade. Until, ironically I entered "overweight adulthood from a desk job" as I call it! But in the eighties I decided from that initial research in my college library that I needed to eat a great deal of antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables, as well as the middle white membranes of oranges and green peppers for a mysterious "vitamin P' that purportedly reduced capillary permeability – so less fluid to leak and become stagnant was my theory! What I read pertained to varicose vein issues – and their tendency to create what sounded like a "lymphedema like" condition – I could not find much on actual lymphedema NOT related to vein issues. (I think the citrus diosmin I now take is what I was getting form those membranes – it worked!! Actually I think it worked better than the expensive diosmin I now take!). My diet mods worked pretty darn well until my mid thirties. The swelling seemed to reduce to only being in my calf and ankle at the end of the day, and would completely resolve at night, rather than my whole leg and foot swelling as in the beginning, after just a couple months!! I also learned to not wholly trust Western medicine and I never will. I'll accept it for acute infections TRULY needing antibiotics or a heart attack, or broken bone. Maybe to remove a stage one tumor in my lung/without subsequent chemo if it gets caught early enough. Not much else. Anyway – I now have moderate lymphedema and swelling that goes down at night but never all the way. But on the good side, I'm the only person in my immediate family on both sides who is past 50 and not on some darn maintenance med – I am actually at least 63 pounds overweight and I do not high BP or Diabetes like others in my family, I also have good cholesterol levels and way less arthritis (almost no pain – pain in thumb joints only and on most days none) after adding in flax seed oil and curcumin about 15 years ago (I had hip, knee and HORRIBLE hand pain just like my mom and dad both – which started in their late 30's). The point of my post? Fruits and vegetables do have remarkable preventative and healing effects – I agree. I think if I had not adopted a "I must eat a minimum of 7 servings of fruits and vegetable a day, and I will NOT seek to take a pill for every ache and pain without exploring less other options first" way of life 33 years ago, I'd now have arthritis that greatly impacted my daily living, and high BP and cholesterol all IN ADDITION to one VERY swollen leg. I am not a total vegan by any stretch but I do go vegan as part of a Daniel fast I do once or twice a year and I dramatically lose a ton of water weight all over when I do. Wish I could have the fortitude to stick with it. Cheese lures me back! Maybe now after reading this blog post and comments I will come up with an "80/20" vegan lifestyle and see if that helps. And for the 20 percent non-vegan I could afford the non-factory farmed, less cruelly raised animal meat and products. I realize vegans have other ethical concerns beyond their own bodies.
Thank you Kelly for what you wrote. There's alot of wisdom there that you've acquired and I appreciate you sharing it all here. That is really interesting. My experience is similar in that I am 55 and all of my family have so called "hereditary" issues like high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I don't. I have the opposite, low blood pressure, low pulse, low cholestorol. It is not hereditary its what we all eat! I am in total agreement on the fruits and veggies, if you eat that way, you can avoid most of western medicine. That's interesting that you had great results from that diosmin. That's smart to get it from the veggies and fruit themselves. I tried the supplements both in the USA and in Europe and got no results, but glad you did. But maybe had it gone at it like you did from the fruit itself. Have you read Colin Campbell's books? He wrote one called Whole where he talked about all that. As far as vegan goes, the vegan cheese industry is growing fast so I am finding it is getting way better! There is one brand called Violife that has a "feta" product that tastes JUST LIKE goat cheese. It's great! And Daiya makes a great smoked gouda. Hopefully within 5 years we will have products like impossible burger for cheese where you can't easily tell the difference. With billions of dollars at stake, I'm confident someone will figure it out. Right now there is this fantastic vegan egg product called Just Egg too, made of mung beans. We find it better than eggs by far! Costs are going down for these products too. Thanks again for writing this all, very informative!
Hi again! I have not read the book you referenced – but I have been watching various documentaries that feature Colin Campbell with great interest! When perusing your blog entries yesterday I was drawn to the plant based one for that very reason. Perhaps it's time to add a few of Colin Campbell's books to my Kindle to read while I cycle.
It's so funny that you mention the vegan cheeses – I have sampled a few but it has been a while. I did find a great cheddar substitute for my plant based burritos. I've not had vegan feta – yet!. But I have to laugh because I DO have some raw cashews and almonds I just purchased to try my hand at making my own plant based cheese. I have a whole Pinterest board with vegan cheese recipes – so funny! I love salad and pretty much have a huge one every day for lunch or dinner, but I like feta or parmesan cheese on it. So that is my next plant based venture.
Thank you so much for this site – I will keep reading it. And thank-you for your kind words of encouragement to me and everyone! I greatly appreciate the work you have done here to compile so much information and encourage the dialogue. I wish you continued great luck with your proactive treatments. May you look down one day at 8 PM and see two matching ankles – I have a feeling you will! I think I have some permanent fibrosis after all these years and letting my weight creep up for too long.
Thanks again for contributing and your kind words, Kelly. There's just so much negativity out there that there is "nothing you can do", I just had to do this. I am glad it is helping. Right now I'm thrilled at how over time my legs are actually now getting better. Yes it takes maintenance but very worth it. I hope you get similar results!