Medical Nutrition Therapy in Lipedema
Chapter from the book: Bilgili, N. & Bilgili, A. (eds.) 2024. Academic Research and Evaluations in Health Sciences.

Gülnur Akdoğan
Necmettin Erbakan University
Z. Işık Solak Görmüş
Necmettin Erbakan University
Raviye Özen Koca
Necmettin Erbakan University

Synopsis

Lipedema is a chronic adipose tissue disorder that mostly affects women, including changes in adipose tissue and vascularity anomalies, although its pathology is not known exactly. Lipedema adipose tissue (LAT) leads to chronic systemic inflammation in the body. Since there is no clear proven cure, the main goal is to alleviate the symptoms associated with the disease. Traditional dietary approaches are ineffective on LAT, but dietary models in which carbohydrate intake is restricted and antioxidant-containing food intake is increased can be a therapeutic approach in reducing inflammation and symptoms caused by lipedema. The ketogenic diet, with its low carbohydrate content, is the most frequently studied dietary approach in lipedema and is thought to be the most appropriate for patients. By improving blood glucose profile and insulin resistance, it prevents hyperglycemia induced inflammation supported by lipedema. It also suppresses pain caused by inflammation by causing a decrease in CRP (C-reactive protein) level. The Mediterranean diet, which is high in antioxidants, is another nutritional model that has been reported to have positive effects on lipedema. It is stated that it can be applied to patients with lipedema because of the abundance of anti-inflammatory foods in the diet and the minimum level of components that can lead to pro-inflammatory cytokine production in the body. On the other hand, vitamins and minerals, which have important roles in ensuring the physiological functioning of the body, should be considered as supplementation according to their levels in the body in order not to worsen the negative clinical picture caused by LAT. In conclusion, there is still a need for more studies to understand the mechanism of lipedema and to provide the treatment methods it requires. The aim of this chapter is to provide information to the readers about the medical nutrition therapy that can be applied in lipedema according to the current literature.

How to cite this book

Akdoğan, G. & Solak Görmüş, Z. I. & Özen Koca, R. (2024). Medical Nutrition Therapy in Lipedema. In: Bilgili, N. & Bilgili, A. (eds.), Academic Research and Evaluations in Health Sciences. Özgür Publications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.58830/ozgur.pub431.c1888

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Published

March 27, 2024

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