While acupuncture may not be the first thing you think of when you decide that you want to lose weight, it should be given serious consideration. We usually think of acupuncture for pain management and internal medicine. But excess weight, like any imbalance in the body, can be treated with acupuncture. Here are some ways that it can help:
Improves digestion – Acupuncturists understand that a healthy gut translates to good energy and mood. If your digestive system isn’t working well, then you will be prone to feeling sluggish, fatigued, foggy headed, and moody. If this persists over time, the imbalance can manifest as the body holding onto excess weight. Diet and exercise can only do so much if you are not metabolizing your food properly. In addition to addressing these imbalances in your treatment, your acupuncturist can also coach you on diet choices. There are many foods that you may think are healthy, but can actually slow down your metabolism. For example, cold foods, like smoothies and salads, can be very hard on a weak digestive system and actually make it harder to lose weight. Incorporating warming spices, like ginger, can help us digest these foods. Your acupuncturist will coach you on more specific dietary recommendations tailored to your constitution and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Diagnosis.
Boosts metabolism – Chinese medicine has a very holistic understanding of the metabolic system that is based on balancing key organs and substances in the body. There are so many reasons that you can have low energy that go unregistered by western medicine. Allopaths have come up with names like “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome” to label the very common reality, but have yet to find a root cause or effective treatment. If you use stimulants, you may get a temporary buzz, but feel worse or crash after. In a Chinese medicine treatment, the acupuncturist will take your history, feel your pulse, and look at your tongue to figure out what’s happening a more subtle level. Are the yin and yang balanced in your body? What about the qi? Is the blood circulating properly? Do you have fluid accumulation? There are lots of reasons to feel sluggish and hold extra weight, especially with our modern lifestyles, but Chinese medicine can help you get your energy back and make sure that your body is processing food and fluids in the most efficient, optimal way.
Helps with food cravings – one of the things that makes losing weight so difficult is food cravings. One of the most well proven acupuncture protocols is an ear acupuncture protocol known as NADA. It is useful for treating addictions and cravings of all kinds, including smoking, alcohol, and food. There is also an ear acupuncture point that is specifically for hunger. Your acupuncturist can give you an ear “seed,” A small bandage with a tiny bead placed on the hunger and/or or craving points. The bandage stays on for about a week, so when you feel a craving, instead of reaching for junk food, you can stimulate the acupuncture point yourself by massaging the ear seeds. This will help calm your nerves, quiet the cravings, and remind you that you are in control.
Reduces stress – There are proven links between stress and weight gain. We all know that when we are stressed we tend to reach for “comfort foods” to soothe us. These foods are notoriously high in calories and low in nutrients, allowing us to binge and still crave more and more. But there is a deeper link between stress and weight control.
Stress hormones can affect the neurotransmitters that control hunger. For example, stress leads to the release of cortisol, which can affect the hormone leptin. Leptin interacts with the hypothalamus to affect hunger and metabolism. Prolonged exposure to cortisol can make the leptin overactive, which means your hunger center is being stimulated more than it should. Acupuncture is great for managing stress and balancing emotions, which can contribute significantly to your healthy weight loss plan.
Stops pain – if you are using pain as an excuse not to exercise, then look no further. Acupuncture is such a good tool for pain management that it has actually performed better than opiates in certain clinical trials. Because of this, and in light of the opioid epidemic, some healthcare systems have begun to use acupuncture in lieu of narcotic pain medications. Pain medications can also slow your digestion, which will only make weight loss more difficult. Acupuncture, on the other hand, can treat the pain and also work on metabolism and weight loss. With an acupuncturist, you will get to the root of all of your concerns and remove the roadblocks keeping you from feeling and performing your best.
Corrects imbalances leading to disease – when someone’s body mass index (the ratio of their height to weight) increases this puts strain on the body. Obesity is increasing rapidly across the world due to our modern diets and lifestyles. We are “busy,” so we reach for high calorie, low nutrient foods because they are quick and affordable. This has made weight gain a symptom that plagues the country, and with it come what are called “comorbidities” or accompanying conditions. Examples of comorbidities for obesity include diabetes mellitus (type 2), hypertension, hypercholesteremia (high cholesterol), and depression. The good news is that acupuncture and Chinese medicine can help improve symptoms related to disease and preventing many of these conditions, so it’s a great modality to seek out no matter what stage you are in your journey.
As practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine, our goal for our patients is health and well-being, not a specific look or number on the scale. Because of this, we make sure that transformations are done in a healthy way. This means that they may occur, gradually, but gradual changes are more likely to stick. Crash dieters may lose a lot of weight at once, but they gain it back because the weight loss method is not sustainable. This all too common pattern wreaks havoc on your body and can make being healthy even harder in the long run. Instead, look to your acupuncturist for guidance towards a healthy, sustainable way to feel your best from the inside out. And if you follow the dietary and lifestyle recommendations, you will be that much closer to your weight loss goals.