Healthy and balanced nutrition is vital to your overall well-being. Most diets aim for rapid weight loss and fail in the end. In many cases, this leads to weight gain rather than loss (called "yo-yo effect") and must be avoided.
A lot of lipoedema patients are overweight. Although lipoedema itself may not progress over time, being overweight can make your lipoedema worse. There are conservative (non-surgical) and surgical ways for managing weight with lipoedema.
Balanced nutrition, together with regular exercise, is the key elements of conservative weight management. Lipoedema experts created a weight management concept for lipoedema patients. Here are the most important points:
Avoid short-term diets. Instead, focus on balanced nutrition that you can follow in the long-term.
Basic calorie counting may not be effective if you have lipoedema: You should balance your intake with the energy you need during the day. However, some nutrients are more beneficial than others.
Healthy fats, like olive oil or oily fish, are recommended, whereas processed food with a high amount of saturated fat should be avoided.
Try to avoid processed food in general – it is often high in sugar and saturated fat.
Strive to have three meals a day and maintain a 4-6 hour gap between meals without snacking. An interval of 12 hours without snacking is recommended overnight. This helps to keep your blood sugar on a stable level and has an anti-inflammatory effect.
Support and coaching, e.g., from a dietician, can help you to stabilise your weight.
Bariatric surgery is an option for weight management in patients with severe obesity. It is recommended in patients with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of more than 40 kg/m². However it may also be considered for those with a BMI ranging from 35 to 40 kg/m². There are different types of bariatric surgeries, but all imply changes to your digestive system. One example is to reduce your stomach's size and thus the amount of food you can eat.
