Lipomas

Question
Hello!

I am a 50 year old male and I have multiple lipomas pretty much all over my body (whch I have removed surgically various times in the past for cosmetic reasons only for them to pop back out again).  My mother, my father and one of my brothers also have the same condition.  However, I know there is no medication to prevent this from occuring (or at least not one I'm aware of), but is there any type of a diet that may reduce/stop the growth of these lipomas (i.e. becoming a vegan/vegetarian) or can the growth of these lipomas be reduced by eliminating specific foods from my diet?

Answer
Hi Ben!  Thanks for writing.   There are many different classifications of lipomas, and although you may fall into more than 1 category, your history is strongly suggestive of Familial Multiple Lipomatosis.  The lipomas are categorized according to their pattern of distribution on the body, the size, the # of lipomas (solitary vs mulitiple), and other comorbid conditions, genetic components, etc.
Familial lipomas are pretty much genetically determined, so there isn't much you can do to prevent their appearance.  
Some lipomas are associated with a high body weight in general, and also excessive alcohol consumption and diabetes.   So, keeping your weight in check and preventing excess fat and weight gain, eating low-sugar and low fat, with little to no alcohol to prevent diabetes, and regular daily exercise will definitely help you in preventing new lipomas that may fall under another category.    However, the existing ones you have now can NOT be reduced in size with dietary intervention---the only treatments would be surgical removal and possibly mesotherapy (a concoction of steroids, vasodilators, enzymes and hormones is injected into the lipoma to 'dissolve' it.  You may want to check into this, but probably not covered by insurance.)
Hope this helps you Ben.

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