Upon hearing the word tumour, many people will
make an automatic association with cancer, but not all tumours are cancerous.
One such benign tumour is a lipoma, which consists of fat cells that take a
long time to develop and do not usually cause any harm. The reason that these
tumours appear is unknown, but one popular theory is that a high fat, high
cholesterol diet may be a contributory factor.
Lipoma lumps largely consist of triglycerides.
Triglycerides form from any unused calories from food eaten, with the aim of
becoming a stored energy source. These blood triglycerides can be kept in check
and within acceptable levels by maintaining a healthy weight and reducing the
level of sugar, fat and cholesterol within the diet.
Although not totally proven, according to some
experts, the risk of developing a lipoma may be significantly increased if a
diet is high in both fat and cholesterol. A low fat, low cholesterol diet
should include lean meat such as chicken, fish, plenty of vegetables and fruit,
whole grains, low fat or non fat dairy items, and healthy oils such as olive
oil.
It makes sense then to follow a healthy, fat
limiting diet if there is a concern about developing lipomas due to family
history, or to prevent a reappearance of a previous growth.
