More Reactions, Fewer Antibodies: The IgG Mystery in Lipedema

A new clinical study from São Paulo reveals an unexpected immune imbalance that could reshape how we understand food reactivity in lipedema.

If you have ever looked at an IgG food panel and been told that “everything lights up,” this new 2025 study from Brazil may feel uncomfortably familiar. The researchers found that women with lipedema tended to have more foods flagged as “positive” on IgG tests than women without lipedema – yet at the same time their overall IgG antibody levels were lower.

In other words, their immune system seemed to react to more foods, but with weaker “firepower.” This paradoxical pattern fits with the idea that lipedema is not just a fat disorder, but part of a broader story involving gut barriers, immune exhaustion and chronic, low-grade inflammation.

Why look at IgG and food in lipedema at all?

Lipedema is increasingly viewed as a condition where the fat tissue, the immune system and the microcirculation interact in complex ways, rather than a purely mechanical fat problem. Earlier research has suggested that women with lipedema may have increased intestinal permeability (“leaky gut”), altered complement proteins in the blood, and a different inflammatory profile than women with obesity alone.