Weight loss is a concern for a lot of people and is something that can be quite difficult to achieve even with fad diets. Acupuncture is a form of complementary medicine that may assist in the reduction of body fat mass and overall weight management. Read this article to find out how to use acupuncture for weight loss and improving your metabolic rate.
What is Acupuncture?
Acupuncture is one of the main branches of Traditional Chinese Medicine, along with herbal medicine, qigong, manual therapy and diet, which involves inserting fine, sterile needles through the skin to stimulate specific meridian points on the body and improve the flow of energy in different organs and organ systems in the body. The benefits of acupuncture have been well-documented, especially in the treatment of a broad spectrum of health issues that affect the mind and body, including:
- Respiratory diseases
- Stress and anxiety
- Depression
- Toothache, dental pain and oral diseases
- Insomnia
- Infertility
- Allergies
- Gastrointestinal disorders
- Anaemia
- Heart disease
- Hypertension
- Headache and migraine
- Back pain
- Sciatica
- Arthritis
- Neurological conditions
- Eye diseases
- Endometriosis
How Might Acupuncture Help With Weight Loss?
To achieve a meaningful weight loss journey, you have to make significant lifestyle changes, and acupuncture may help you with this. Oftentimes, many of us are concerned about the lack of energy, increased stress levels, and difficulty in coping with pain, which usually occurs when we start a new exercise routine. Acupuncture is an effective weight loss method as it has been shown to increase your energy levels, providing motivation to exercise. It may also help with pain relief after exercising. It may also be useful if you have a metabolic condition that results in weight gain, as it was reported to increase metabolism, reduce food intake and improve blood circulation.
More specifically, acupuncture has been found to reduce both weight and cholesterol levels by mobilising your energy stores. Studies have revealed that people who received acupuncture lost twice as much weight as those who were on a diet regimen alone. Additionally, they have also decreased their levels of cholesterols, triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.
Acupuncture may also help you regulate sleep, which is also important for weight loss. Regular sleeping patterns help sustain the body's energy levels throughout the day, maintain a balanced lifestyle and allow the metabolism to find a steady and balanced rhythm.
However, it is interesting to note that many studies are contradictory, and a large-scale clinical study to prove that acupuncture can assist with your weight loss has yet to be conducted.
What Acupuncture Points Are Used For Weight Loss?
If you are using acupuncture for weight loss, then the acupuncture practitioner will target the acupuncture points in your ear as they are used for both weight loss and general detoxification of the body. During an auricular acupuncture treatment, the acupuncturist places five needles in each ear. The type of needles used in ear acupuncture measure roughly from 0.3 to 1.5mm.
Out of the five needles, four directly correspond to specific body organs namely the kidneys, lungs, liver, and the nervous system. The fifth needle is used for relaxation. Once the acupuncture treatment begins, the body is stimulated to produce endorphins. Endorphins are the "feel good" hormones in the body that help fight cravings for carbohydrates, reduce the person’s appetite, and also help with the withdrawal symptoms if weight loss is connected with drug abuse, smoking, or alcohol drinking or abuse.
At the end of auricular acupuncture sessions, ear seeds are often applied to enhance the effects of acupuncture on the patient long after they have gone home. The seeds, which come attached to an adhesive tape, are placed on the specific points of the outer ear that have been treated recently with acupuncture needles. These include the tragus, which is the thick, pointed section of the outer ear that covers the opening leading to the ear canal, and the cavum concha that is located in the hollow depression in the auricle. The first is the hunger point, while the second is the stomach point.
According to peer-reviewed studies conducted by Hisayuki Ito et al. in KOSAI Oriental Healthcare Center in Tokyo, Japan, stimulating these points on 10 healthy subjects had significantly improved their body weight after one week of treatment. The level of hormones produced by enteroendocrine cells for inducing food cravings also dropped by substantial amounts. No adverse events were recorded during the study.
What are Other Acupuncture Methods for Body Weight Control
Aside from the points in the ear, other acupuncture points in the body can also be used for reducing body fat mass and the treatment of obesity. This is why it is very important to have a detailed consultation with the acupuncturist. The acupuncturist must know your eating habits to be able to determine your digestive problems and your appetite as well. They will also check your pulse rate to identify the general state of your energy and measure your stomach energy as well. Your tongue will also be checked for cracks and white or yellow coatings. In TCM, the tongue provides clues on the patient's condition and the possible reasons for gaining weight.
Once the practitioner has identified digestive disorders existing in your body, they will start inserting the needles into certain points that correspond to your problem areas, which may include any of the following:
- Mouth – this point relates to an impulsive eater who is also a chain smoker
- Stomach – this point relates to a person who is obese (eating even when the stomach is full)
- Lungs – this point relates to people who are addicted to food
- Endocrine – this point relates to those who gain weight due to water retention
- Senmen – this point relates to the psychological reasons for anxiety, frustration and loneliness
- Spleen – this point relates to those with hormonal and sugar imbalances
- Kidney – this point relates to those with the nervous system and water retention
- Thyroid – this point relates to those with a slow metabolism
Maintaining a low-calorie diet is crucial if you want to reduce your body mass, blood sugar levels and achieve a healthy weight. However, a conventional weight loss program can make very little changes to your physiological health if there are so many blockages in your energy channels. Clearing these with acupuncture and getting your internal organs, particularly those located in the digestive and excretory systems, functioning at optimal levels is key to improving your body's metabolism and detoxification process. Find an acupuncturist in your local area [alt tag: Best acupuncturists in Australia] or check out other weight loss programs on the Natural Therapy Pages.
Originally published on May 01, 2018
