The Inflammation Fix: How Keto Diet Supports Your Lymphatic System
Release Date: 07/16/2025
How Trauma Rewrites Pain Part 3—When Trauma Turns on the Immune System
Dear body, I’m listening
“Trauma doesn't just live in your memories, your fascia, or your nervous system. It can also reshape your immune system, especially when no one helped you feel safe. That doesn't mean it's your fault, and that doesn't mean your body isn't on your side. It means that your body has been on your side this whole time, trying to protect you the only way it knew how.” —Donna Piper Some days your body throws signals you cannot ignore, but no one seems to hear them. The swelling, the exhaustion, the crashes that make no sense on paper start to feel like a secret only you and your body...
info_outline
Thermal Imaging for Health: Early Answers, Less Guesswork with Dr. Robert Kane
Dear body, I’m listening
"It's a balance between getting information and trusting experts. It's really important that as a patient, you have to be your own advocate." —Robert Kane When it comes to our body, uncertainty can be the hardest symptom to treat. Worry sets in when answers are fuzzy, and bouncing between specialists leaves us more confused than before. The real question is: how can we know what’s happening inside before a health crisis begins? After doubting conventional answers and searching for tools that deliver real clarity, Dr. Robert Kane turned a career in health into a...
info_outline
Chronic Pain & Trauma: Gently Breaking The Invisible Link with Science
Dear body, I’m listening
"The body's intelligent. We just have to show up. I equate it to a dance where the body leads and I follow." —Peter Stuart You can run from nagging pain, but it keeps showing up in new ways—wrecking sleep, fouling up moods, and shutting down energy. The worst part? Real answers are rare, and the world keeps telling you to just “push through” or “try harder.” Maybe it’s not about willpower at all—it’s about listening to the actual story your body’s been trying to tell for years. Peter Stuart spent decades fighting through his own injuries, dismissed symptoms,...
info_outline
How Real Connection Supports Healing (Even When You’re Exhausted) with Heather Nelson
Dear body, I’m listening
“Push your life to be the life that you want and not accept that it's just the way it is. Every choice that you make should be toward loving the life that you have.” —Heather Nelson Connection isn’t just a feel-good extra. It’s a lifeline when the world feels heavy and invisible battles make us want to shut down. Isolation, overwhelm, and invisible struggles don’t need to be our whole story; even small acts of reaching out can reshape everything. The truth is, connecting with the right people and sharing our messy middle is stronger than any secret solution. Heather...
info_outline
The Science of Rest— What the Lipkin Study Taught Us About ME/CFS
Dear body, I’m listening
“Pace first, safety builds capacity.” —Donna Piper There’s a kind of tired that sleep can’t fix, a crash that feels invisible to everyone but you. You push, you pace, you try to “do all the right things,” yet your body still calls a timeout. Maybe it’s not weakness or lack of willpower. Maybe your body’s simply working harder than anyone realizes. In this episode, Donna unpacks a revolutionary study on chronic fatigue, the real science behind “the crash,” and why pacing, rest, and nervous system care are the new power moves for healing. Expect myth-busting,...
info_outline
Beyond the Diagnosis: Reclaiming Life and Purpose With Lipedema with Hiba Hamati
Dear body, I’m listening
"Trust your instinct… Our bodies sound an alarm bell that something isn’t right, and we ignore it for years. Don’t ignore it. Don't accept the bare minimum answer. Just because your labs are normal does not mean that your body is functioning optimally." —Hiba Hamati Going to doctor after doctor, trying every tip, and still wondering why your pain and swelling never make sense. You know there’s something happening that nobody else seems to see, and not getting answers just wears you down. This chat right here puts a name to all that frustration. Hiba Hamati...
info_outline
If Only I Were Skinny…
Dear body, I’m listening
"Your body is not the enemy—the world's impossible standards are. And every time you name that truth out loud, you don't just free yourself, you also free someone else.” —Donna Piper Some lies are so loud they start to sound like truth—like the idea that confidence waits on the other side of weight loss. And the hardest part? The shame of not being skinny can at times feel heavier than our own weight, turning every step forward into a fight against an invisible anchor. Donna spent years believing her size erased her gifts. It wasn’t until she uncovered her...
info_outline
How Trauma Rewrites Pain, Part 2: When Fight or Flight Gets Stuck
Dear body, I’m listening
"If trauma rewrote the wiring one way, that means safety relationship and somatic practices can rewrite it the other way— it is the long game; there is no quick fix.” —Donna Piper Sometimes you do everything right, but your body keeps sending SOS signals no one else can see. Doubt creeps in—is this real, or is something deeper going on? You’re not alone; your body’s story matters, and what you feel makes perfect sense. For years, Donna felt invisible, questioned, and let down by quick fixes and dismissive answers. Her experience battling chronic pain, trauma, and...
info_outline
Dollars and Cents: The Real Financial Stress of Being Sick
Dear body, I’m listening
"I'm not my bills. I'm not my debt. I am worthy of care." —Donna Piper Being sick isn’t just exhausting—it’s expensive in ways nobody warns you about. The stress of medical bills, insurance denials, and endless receipts can weigh just as heavily as the symptoms themselves. If you’re tired of feeling like your wallet is as worn out as your body, you’re not alone. In this episode, Donna opens up about the real price tag of chronic illness, sharing her journey through misdiagnoses, out-of-pocket treatments, and the emotional toll of fighting for care. She breaks down the...
info_outline
How Trauma Rewrites Pain, Part 1: My Body Kept Score
Dear body, I’m listening
“Moving is medicine. There's something with moving that you don't need to know why or how, or how it relates to your emotions or trauma. And just like how trauma rewrites pain, it is also the opposite when you feel safe, embodied, and in a compassionate relationship with yourself, you can rewrite your story for safety.” —Donna Piper Sometimes pain isn’t just in your head—it’s woven deep into your body, shaping how you move, feel, and even how you see yourself. When life keeps telling you to “push through” but your body keeps shutting down, it’s easy to wonder if...
info_outline
"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.
- Website: https://www.leslynkeith.com/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4g7g72sTTHZQso-JFnLdSg/featured