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The Inflammation Fix: How Keto Diet Supports Your Lymphatic System
"It's not all about obesity, it's not all about weight. It is about giving your body the nutrients it needs to be healthy." —Leslyn Keith
Forget calories-in-calories-out. If you’re eating "clean" but still battling swelling, fatigue, or pain, the problem isn’t your willpower—it’s how your food fuels (or strangles) your lymphatics.
Carbs don’t just go to our hips—they clog our body’s drainage system. And when our lymphatics are drowning in carbs, every symptom—from brain fog to stubborn weight—becomes a distress signal.
Leslyn Keith, a lymphatic therapist and researcher with 25 years of clinical experience, reveals how the ketogenic diet isn’t just about weight loss—it’s a lifeline for stagnant lymphatics, inflammation, and conditions like lipedema. With brutal honesty and science-backed insights, she dismantles the myth that fat is the enemy and shares why protein and healthy fats are the unsung heroes of lymphatic drainage.
Tune in as Donna and Leslyn unpack why carbs sabotage your lymph flow, how keto can reduce pain and swelling before the scale moves, and the one dietary shift that could finally make your body feel like yours again.
Connect with Donna:
Website: https://www.donnapiper.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnapiper
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedonnapiper
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedonnapiper
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedonnapiper
Episode Highlights:
04:52 Why We Get Fat
09:43 The Impact of Keto Diet on the Lymphatic System
19:53 Understanding Your Body’s Needs
27:29 Body Fat vs Dietary Fat
34:03 Challenges, Benefits, and Practical Tips for Adopting to Keto Diet
47:13 The Lymphatic Code Correct
49:33 Proper Nutrients Matter
Resources:
Book
The Lymphatic Code: Using a Ketogenic Lifestyle to Enjoy a Robust Lymphatic System That Promotes Overall Health and Wellness by Leslyn Keith
Buy the print soft cover on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3oAVSbQ
X:
Your ‘healthy’ diet could be starving your lymphatic system.
Game-changing convo with lymphatic therapist and researcher Leslyn Keith on why keto = lymphatic rescue. and the #1 thing to eat instead. Don’t miss this week’s episode!
#DearBodyImListening #KetogenicDiet #LymphaticHealth #ChronicInflammation #MetabolicHealing #FatDisorder
Quotes:
03:38 “I was on a diet or a cleanse for 40 years because I was trying to figure out why my body didn't respond." —Donna Piper
04:25 "I wanted to make sure my food, what I could eat was servicing the body that I had with all these conditions." —Donna Piper
10:31 “There's something that is inflammatory about a high carbohydrate diet, and it's particularly inflammatory to the lymphatics, so they don't work as well." —Leslyn Keith
13:37 "We try to impress upon people is that you got to heal first, then the pounds come off." —Leslyn Keith
14:26 "It's all those other non-scale victories that are telling you that you are healing and you're doing better. For a lot of people, that pain reduction or resolution is the ultimate motivator, because they go into it thinking, ‘I just want the scale to go down, but if, in two weeks, they have a lot less pain, well, I'm going to stick with this way of eating just because of that’, because that that's huge." —Leslyn Keith
18:20 "Using a Keto or carnivore diet is the easiest to modify to accommodate each of those individual needs— your comorbidities, your preferences, what you like to eat— all those things. We can do this in a way that is going to promote your health." —Leslyn Keith
26:59 “There was a point where my body was craving more fat. Because I was a teenager in the 80s and up, so fat was bad, like fat would make you fat. And that is really not true." —Donna Piper
27:30 “It's quite a disservice that that we have the same word for body fat as what we eat in dietary fat. Because that's it's very easy to come to that conclusion that if I eat fat, it will make me become more fat. And it's simply not true. It is the carbohydrates that get turned into fat in your body." —Leslyn Keith
40:11 “It's daunting because of how people treat too, and how they perceive you because most people see obesity as a lifestyle poor willpower, and it is your fault that you're there." —Leslyn Keith
44:41 "It's not all about obesity, it's not all about weight. It is about giving your body the nutrients it needs to be healthy." —Leslyn Keith
43:57 “If I would have known that lipedema was a thing when I was 15, how I viewed my body and how I viewed dieting or not dieting would have been different." —Donna Piper
Connect with Leslyn:
Leslyn Keith is a certified lymphedema therapist and has a Clinical Doctorate in Occupational Therapy with an emphasis on lymphedema and obesity. Dr. Keith has started four lymphedema therapy programs in California including two in private practice. She has treated lymphatic and fat disorders for over 20 years and currently researches, consults, and lectures on lymphedema, lipedema, and obesity nationally and internationally.
She is the author of two books and published several articles about the efficacy of a ketogenic diet for lymphatic and fat disorders. Currently, Dr. Keith is a consultant with Lipedema Simplified, LLC and Lymphedema Seminars, an instructor in lymphedema therapy for Klose Training, and directs Lymphatic Lifestyle Solutions, an online course and community for managing weight and lymphedema.
View all episodes
By Donna Piper
"It's not all about obesity, it's not all about weight. It is about giving your body the nutrients it needs to be healthy." —Leslyn Keith
Forget calories-in-calories-out. If you’re eating "clean" but still battling swelling, fatigue, or pain, the problem isn’t your willpower—it’s how your food fuels (or strangles) your lymphatics.
Carbs don’t just go to our hips—they clog our body’s drainage system. And when our lymphatics are drowning in carbs, every symptom—from brain fog to stubborn weight—becomes a distress signal.
Leslyn Keith, a lymphatic therapist and researcher with 25 years of clinical experience, reveals how the ketogenic diet isn’t just about weight loss—it’s a lifeline for stagnant lymphatics, inflammation, and conditions like lipedema. With brutal honesty and science-backed insights, she dismantles the myth that fat is the enemy and shares why protein and healthy fats are the unsung heroes of lymphatic drainage.
Tune in as Donna and Leslyn unpack why carbs sabotage your lymph flow, how keto can reduce pain and swelling before the scale moves, and the one dietary shift that could finally make your body feel like yours again.
Connect with Donna:
Website: https://www.donnapiper.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnapiper
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedonnapiper
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedonnapiper
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thedonnapiper
Episode Highlights:
04:52 Why We Get Fat
09:43 The Impact of Keto Diet on the Lymphatic System
19:53 Understanding Your Body’s Needs
27:29 Body Fat vs Dietary Fat
34:03 Challenges, Benefits, and Practical Tips for Adopting to Keto Diet
47:13 The Lymphatic Code Correct
49:33 Proper Nutrients Matter
Resources:
Book
The Lymphatic Code: Using a Ketogenic Lifestyle to Enjoy a Robust Lymphatic System That Promotes Overall Health and Wellness by Leslyn Keith
Buy the print soft cover on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3oAVSbQ
X:
Your ‘healthy’ diet could be starving your lymphatic system.
Game-changing convo with lymphatic therapist and researcher Leslyn Keith on why keto = lymphatic rescue. and the #1 thing to eat instead. Don’t miss this week’s episode!
#DearBodyImListening #KetogenicDiet #LymphaticHealth #ChronicInflammation #MetabolicHealing #FatDisorder
Quotes:
03:38 “I was on a diet or a cleanse for 40 years because I was trying to figure out why my body didn't respond." —Donna Piper
04:25 "I wanted to make sure my food, what I could eat was servicing the body that I had with all these conditions." —Donna Piper
10:31 “There's something that is inflammatory about a high carbohydrate diet, and it's particularly inflammatory to the lymphatics, so they don't work as well." —Leslyn Keith
13:37 "We try to impress upon people is that you got to heal first, then the pounds come off." —Leslyn Keith
14:26 "It's all those other non-scale victories that are telling you that you are healing and you're doing better. For a lot of people, that pain reduction or resolution is the ultimate motivator, because they go into it thinking, ‘I just want the scale to go down, but if, in two weeks, they have a lot less pain, well, I'm going to stick with this way of eating just because of that’, because that that's huge." —Leslyn Keith
18:20 "Using a Keto or carnivore diet is the easiest to modify to accommodate each of those individual needs— your comorbidities, your preferences, what you like to eat— all those things. We can do this in a way that is going to promote your health." —Leslyn Keith
26:59 “There was a point where my body was craving more fat. Because I was a teenager in the 80s and up, so fat was bad, like fat would make you fat. And that is really not true." —Donna Piper
27:30 “It's quite a disservice that that we have the same word for body fat as what we eat in dietary fat. Because that's it's very easy to come to that conclusion that if I eat fat, it will make me become more fat. And it's simply not true. It is the carbohydrates that get turned into fat in your body." —Leslyn Keith
40:11 “It's daunting because of how people treat too, and how they perceive you because most people see obesity as a lifestyle poor willpower, and it is your fault that you're there." —Leslyn Keith
44:41 "It's not all about obesity, it's not all about weight. It is about giving your body the nutrients it needs to be healthy." —Leslyn Keith
43:57 “If I would have known that lipedema was a thing when I was 15, how I viewed my body and how I viewed dieting or not dieting would have been different." —Donna Piper
Connect with Leslyn:
Leslyn Keith is a certified lymphedema therapist and has a Clinical Doctorate in Occupational Therapy with an emphasis on lymphedema and obesity. Dr. Keith has started four lymphedema therapy programs in California including two in private practice. She has treated lymphatic and fat disorders for over 20 years and currently researches, consults, and lectures on lymphedema, lipedema, and obesity nationally and internationally.
She is the author of two books and published several articles about the efficacy of a ketogenic diet for lymphatic and fat disorders. Currently, Dr. Keith is a consultant with Lipedema Simplified, LLC and Lymphedema Seminars, an instructor in lymphedema therapy for Klose Training, and directs Lymphatic Lifestyle Solutions, an online course and community for managing weight and lymphedema.