It has been almost 10 years since I got my lymphedema under control.  Recently I’ve had a few requests to detail what I do every day to treat lymphedema naturally.    So, here goes!  It’s not very exciting, but if it can give you some ideas on things to try, I’m hopeful it can help you too!

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Variation Seems to Be Part of Life with Lymphedema

First, one caveat:  the swelling can often change from day to day, so you have to give some of these strategies time to see if they work for you longer-term.  I’m sure eating more salt one day may make a difference, but I seem to find variation is just part of the condition.  Then, probably like all of you, I’ve had a few scares along the way where the swelling has started back up again.  One time, I was doing yin yoga and held a long pose sitting back on folded knees (I’ll never do that pose again…yikes).   My left leg went ballistic but fortunately backed down again after about 6 weeks, but it was very scary in the meantime.   Then, I had some swelling after my second round of the COVID vaccine.  That was a bit depressing, as it took some time to get back to where it was before.  After thinking it through, I realized that my lymphedema also got much worse when I got travel vaccines a long time ago.  Another time, I experimented with using my facial red light therapy mask on my left leg, and it made it swell pretty actively, but it dropped back down in a few weeks.  (Please note I have since been using whole body red light therapy which is helping, and I am hopeful it can be an even more powerful way to improve our lymphatic systems.)

Keeping Things Under Control

My swelling is now very well controlled again and minimal, thankfully.  But it continues to be a trial-and-error system for me.

Daily Routine to Improve Lymphatic Flow

One thing I figured out early is that I need to move more and more often to keep the swelling under control.  If I have a sedentary day, my left leg almost invariably swells the next day, so there’s constant feedback.

I have heard that swimming can be extremely effective for some people; unfortunately, I get zero benefits from it.  But if you haven’t tried it, that would be my first recommendation as some people swear by it for natural lymphedema control.  For me, I just need to hike or walk enough every day to power the lymphatic system.

Fitbit Helps Me Stay Consistent

I use a Fitbit to stay on track and just make sure I get 10,000 steps most days.    I love the Fitbit because it tracks all that for you.  And it makes it more of a game.  However, I know there are free apps you can put on your phone that can count your steps, too, and the price is right.  Or you can get a cheap pedometer without all the bells and whistles.

However you choose to use it, employing technology as an accountability partner can make things easier.

Desks are not Lymphedema Friendly For Me

Along with all these additions, I found one subtraction that is important.  For me, sitting at a desk means more liquid pools in my left leg.  So I mostly work at my computer with my legs up. I know this is not practical for everyone, or maybe your lymphedema isn’t impacted by this, but I urge you to experiment if you have the flexibility to do so.

5 Minutes of Rebounding to Start the Day

I also add rebounding.  Based on my research, rebounding is irreplaceable if you have a lymphatic challenge, since it quickly gets the lymph moving in a way few other activities can replicate.  I love it too, frankly, for an early morning activity.  I am NOT a morning person and don’t like a.m. exercise, but I love that the rebounder doesn’t even feel like effort.  I do 5 minutes in the morning to wake up.  It’s a fantastic exercise and gets your pulse rate up, but doesn’t even feel like work since the momentum makes it seem easy.  That’s assuming you use a quality rebounder.  I learned that a higher-quality rebounder makes rebounding much easier and more comfortable.

Adding Red Light Therapy to Activate Your Cells

Then, I also very recently added red light therapy to my routine, so I normally do that most days (not all) right after the trampoline.   That takes about 12-16 minutes, but I just listen to podcasts, so it’s relaxing and doesn’t feel like a chore.

Daily Schedule to Treat Lymphedema Naturally

Overall, here’s my average day for exercise and treatments:

Morning:

Wake up

5 minutes on the trampoline

12 to 16 minutes of red light therapy

Evening:

Approx 1-hour hike or walk  (shorter if its a busy day or longer on weekends)

Strength training or yoga/ anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes two to three times per week.   I use a TRX mostly for weight training, which works great!  We’ve had big cable machines, but I actually love the TRX more, and you can travel with it, too.

One thing I have learned, anything is better than nothing, so if I’m busy or tired, I’ll just do a few minutes.   I try to avoid the all-or-nothing mentality which I had in my youth.  Better to do something, your lymphedema limbs will appreciate it.

Rebounder is a Great Back-Up for Busy Days

If the weather is bad, I”ll turn on youtube 80s videos and do 20 minutes on the rebounder.  According to the research I’ve read, 20 minutes on the rebounder is equivalent to like an hour of running, so it is a great workout anytime.

I have a treadmill, but I avoid it like the plague.  But in front of the TV, it’s fine too.  My big thing is finding something you enjoy.  I used to struggle to stay consistently active.  Once I discovered that I love hiking, that is a treasured part of my day, so it’s automatic.  More than a cardio workout, I consider it my thinking and unwinding time.

Whole-Foods Plant-Based Diet

I’ve written previously that I believe you need a diet that helps your lymphatic system and doesn’t overwork it.  To me, a whole foods plant based diet is what fits the bill.

I know people often get freaked out with the whole plant-based thing, but as long as you know how or are willing to learn how to cook, it is amazing.  Not only do I not miss cheese, etc.,  I love the food I eat.

That said, also….don’t kill yourself.   We all know if we force change on ourselves and we’re not happy, it will likely eventually backfire.  Go slow.  If you eat partly or mostly plant-based but still eat other stuff part of the time, you’ll probably still reap the benefits.  Or if you can’t think of giving up cheese, then don’t.  Plant-based with cheese is probably far better than other options.  Or eat meat occasionally.  Then, what normally happens is you’ll start to feel better and voluntarily start eating more and more plant-based.

With that said, here’s an example of what I eat most days.

Green Tea is a Beneficial Caffeine Source

I’m not a coffee drinker anymore, so I just drink green tea.  (Although most research says coffee is full of antioxidants, so if it works for you, I wouldn’t stress out).  I love green tea and drink it often all through the day.   There’s some incredibly impressive research on the anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and overall health benefits of green tea, so maybe strive to add at least a cup a day if you can.  And, research suggests more is better.  Then I also will sometimes drink herbal tea like chamomile, or maybe peppermint or chai.   From everything I’ve read, all teas have benefits and antioxidants, so no need to limit yourself here.

Intermittent Fasting (Light)

I do try to wait 12 hours between dinner and breakfast the next day.  There’s also research that doing so gives your body much more ability to repair itself.  I find it easy, so I found this a habit that was no problem to adopt most days.

Breakfast

My regular breakfast is oatmeal with blueberries, nuts, flaxseeds, bananas and soymilk.  Oats, blueberries, nuts and flaxseeds are all amazingly beneficial foods, so you’re getting a bunch of great antioxidants in one quick meal.

I used to struggle with oatmeal because, let’s face it, it’s healthy, but sometimes it does not taste good.   Fortunately, after eating oats day after day for years, I think I have perfected a tasty and extremely easy way to have it.

We get regular rolled oats, put them in a bowl with some water and soymilk and soak them overnight in the refrigerator.  Then, first thing, we take out frozen blueberries and put them in bowls to thaw.  Then after they have thawed, just put the oats on there and layer on raisins, walnuts, sunflower seeds, ground flaxseed, and sliced banana.  I always add more soymilk too.  Especially in summer or warmer weather, this cold oatmeal is really good stuff.

Or, of course, you can eat it hot if you like it that way.  Steel-cut oats are ideal, and I used to do those in a crock pot, but it just got to be too much work.

When I was in my “Scared Straight” phase of lymphedema, which was before the swelling dropped, I tried to eat green veggies at every meal.  (I did this after reading that broccoli and related veggies can actually help repair your DNA so I figured why not keep a constant stream of them in your body.) I did this for over a year while I was doing the chinese herbs and periodic chinese massage to break up blockages.   So in that case breakfast was often a green smoothie in summer.  In colder weather, I would make a big batch of green soup once per week (which was basically a split pea soup with a ton of veggies like brocolli, kale, carrots, etc.) and eat some of that every morning with a piece of whole grain toast and hummus.  Sounds questionable, I know, but it was surprisingly tasty, especially the hot soup for breakfast in the winter.

Really, you just want to get whole foods in there, so any dish that has fruits, veggies or beans can be fantastic.  And, I used to get hung up that you had to eat a certain “serving” size.  Turns out your body likes diversity so even if you eat just a few bites of broccoli or a few spinach leaves, your body still benefits. In fact, much of the benefit comes from synergies when you eat a wider variety of whole foods, so no need to get hung up on eating a lot.  This can help when they are not your favorite foods.

Lunch

My husband and I like to cook and usually always cook extra, so lunch is often leftovers.  But we also keep some veggie burgers in the freezer along with some frozen whole wheat bread so we can throw together a quick veggie burger.  Add some hummus, onions, tomatoes and greens (like spinach and lettuce) and you’ve got several veggies in one meal.

I also really like the idea of keeping whole-grain pitas in the freezer.  If you can find baked falafel, or you can make some soy curls and put something yummy on them, you can build a fast salad-in-a-pita.  I like to use sliced beets or sliced microwaved sweet potatoes as additional fillings as well as lettuce, cabbage, cucumber, onion, sweet chili sauce, hummus etc.

Snacks

Store bought tortilla chips were a bad habit in our household as they are loaded with oil and salt.  My husband brilliantly figured out a way to make natural tortilla chips.  Right now we’re living in the U.S. where you can get a huge thing of corn tortillas for near nothing.  If you toast them lightly and then let them dry out, then break them up, they turn into easy and healthy chips.  Without the salt and oil, the guacamole, hummus or whatever dip them in tastes better!  Or, of course, veggies and fruit are also great snacks, but realistically, I find that you can’t eat bird food or you’ll hate your diet change.  With plant based usually you can eat far more and still lose weight.  So we might split an apple or have some hummus and veggies, but if you want chips too, just find healthy equivalents.

I also often make a big bean salad with a bunch of beans and veggies, topped with balsamic and apple cider vinegar and keep it in the refrigerator.  That is a great snack or you can throw it on greens and add hummus for a fast extremely healthy meal in a pinch.

Sweet Tooth?

My favorite snack to tame any sweet tooth:  dates.  By eating a date or two every day, that 100% quenches any urges I have for sweets.  And dates are a superfood.  Research shows they can help prevent colon cancer and other diseases.  If you eat them with nuts it tastes like a snickers bar (peanuts) or those great turtle candies  (with walnuts).

Or if you’re still craving sweets, try a green smoothie.  The key to making them taste great, I”ve found, is to freeze some very ripe bananas and blend those in.   So maybe kale, spinach, frozen bananas and apples as a start, but of course, the sky’s the limit on smoothie combos.  Pack them with greens and its a great way to up your disease-fighting antioxidants, too.

Dinner

First of all, we do love to cook, but sometimes there is no time.  Fortunately, we’ve been lucky to find, no matter where we live, a few solid plant-based options that become our go-to for takeout.  I recommend you do that if you try to go plant-based.

For those in the USA, if you have a Chipotle near you, their burrito (or salad) is easily made plant based and is amazing.  I skip the sofritos (which are tofu based and good as well, but I prefer just the veggie) and just get beans and brown rice, fajita veggies, guacamole (which is free if you do a veggie version normally), then all the salsas, lettuce, etc.  You’re eating a ton of different fresh plants and usually one burrito last two meals.

Also those build your own pizza places like Blaze and Mod are great for plant based eaters too.  The regular or thick crust dough are both vegan at these chains, plus they have a ton of great veggies you can load up.  They also have both vegan cheese and vegan sausage.  These are not great health foods, of course, but if they help you eat way more unprocessed foods, why not?

Fortunately when dining out, most restaurants now also have at least a few vegan options in many areas of the world.  We always check out the menu ahead to avoid bad surprises.

We cook most of the time, however.  What’s great about plant-based eating is you can “veganize” most meals.  Thai, Indian, Chinese, mac and cheese….you name it, some great cook or chef has found a way to make a version that is healthy and plant based.  So you can eat the foods you love and not feel guilty as they are healthy (and you won’t feel overloaded afterwards, usually, either).

Counting Plants

With a whole food plant-based diet, you can usually eat as much as you want and you’ll still gradually lose weight.  (If you want to lose weight painlessly, I wholeheartedly recommend this book by Michael Greger MD, How not to diet.)  So there’s no worrying about calories or anything.

But with lymphedema, we want to focus on quality…. so I simply try to eat as many plants and veggies and fruit every day that I can.  There’s increasing research on the microbiome that suggests that a diet with more plants means a healthier gut, better immune system and much less inflammation.   All those things are likely to very positively impact our lymphatic system.

Some leading microbiome researchers have suggested that you shoot to eat 30 different plants in a week.  And, don’t worry about eating a specific quantity, apparently even a small amount of each is enough since diversity is what is critical.

It’s surprisingly easy.  Here are some simple ways to eat more plants that I”ve found very helpful:

  • Get in the habit of topping most meals with greens, even if it’s just a bit.  Almost any dish can be brightened up by some shreds of red cabbage, chopped spinach or some shredded romaine.
  • Eating pizza, Thai or Indian food?  Try adding some healthy stuff on top.  Put some greens (like cabbage, lettuce and/or spinach), some drained and rinsed kidney beans or chickpeas, and maybe add some slices of microwaved sweet potato. You’ll add some huge health benefits and still enjoy the main taste of the meal.  You can also make takeout go a lot further.
  • When cooking, add in more veggies.  Almost everything we make starts with a base of onion, garlic  and kale.  We chop the kale so it mostly disappears.  Then we usually add a few mushrooms too, chopped finely so they pretty much just end up thickening the dish.  Also, try to add beans—you can add peas and edamame to Asian foods, or cannellini or butter beans to any Italian dish.

This is also a good way to improve your diet if you’re not in the space to go plant based.  Some doctors have stated that adding 30 plants to a non veggie diet can still provide huge benefits.

What about alcohol?   I’m one of those “life is too short” people and a glass of wine or two  helps me clearly separate the day from the evening.  I have gone a month or more at times with no alcohol and have seen zero benefit, so that’s a habit I keep.  I realize that alcohol does have potential risks, possibly significant.  However,  I choose to keep it in moderation and don’t see that it worsens my lymphedema in any way.  I think stacking a bit of alcohol on a bad diet can be dangerous, but the Blue Zones people have been doing it with a healthy diet and these are some of the healthiest old people in the world.

Be Sure You’re Not Adding Toxins Other Ways

Finally, when I first was dealing with progressing lymphedema, I did a big cleanup of my environment. I switched to clean beauty products (and also backed off on makeup too and use way less).  Especially for the body, I made sure I was using simple and clean shea-based soaps and nontoxic body lotions since those can cover larger areas, meaning you can absorb more.

I also stopped using toxic cleaning products in the house.  For the most part, I’m really careful, since anything we put on our skin can impact our body and our lymphatic system.  So please don’t skip this step.

Conclusion:  Treat Lymphedema Naturally Every Day

In conclusion, this is what has been working for me, as a result of significant trial and error over the years.  While it took a long time to see results, it was gratifying to finally see a measurable drop when used in conjunction with Chinese herbs and massage.  Hopefully, this article gives you some ideas to try.  Again, for me, it was one long learning process, so you may find some things work for you, and some may not.  Fortunately, most of these can result in better overall health, so it’s a win/win anyway.  By continually moving toward a more holistic approach to lymphedema management, you’ll hopefully find yourself with less swelling and more of a feeling of control.

What changes have you made for lymphedema that have benefited you?  We’d love to hear about it, so please comment below.