Does Acupuncture Help You Lose Weight

does-acupuncture-help-you-lose-weight

Does Acupuncture Help You Lose Weight?

 

At Source Empowered Wellness, we often get asked if acupuncture can help one lose weight. The answer is yes and it’s a holistic method that harmonizes your whole body.  Any all-natural method requires your personal commitment to lifestyle changes and a positive attitude.  And the side effects are all positive too:  increased energy and enhanced mood, better circulation, decreased cravings, better sleep – the list goes on!  Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), of which acupuncture is a part, believes lifestyle is a huge part of our health because the spirit (shen), or presence, connects the mind and body.  This is why we say “Follow Your Heart” because intuitively we can feel what is right for us.

How Do These Tiny, Painless Needles Make A Change?

One reason acupuncture is effective for weight control is based on the premise that excess weight can be caused by disturbed energy flow to and from the hypothalamus located in your brain. The hypothalamus regulates your hormones and other chemicals that work to regulate thirst and hunger.  The needles also stimulate the adrenal glands to balance our stress hormones and give us more energy and “digestive fire” which leads to a higher metabolism.  With more naturally available energy, a person can slowly wean themselves off the sugar and caffeine highs that eventually leave one drained and addicted to those substances for energy.  Often there is also an emotional component desiring to be healed with more mindfulness.  There are specific acupuncture points that harmonize our emotions and calm the spirit that are very helpful in addressing the cravings and “emotional eating”.  Acupuncture stimulates the release of endorphins, or the “feel-good” chemicals that are proven to curb cravings.
Many overweight people start healthy diets but have difficulty in suppressing their appetite. Acupuncture stimulates the auricular branch of the vagal nerve and raises serotonin levels, both of which have been shown to increase tone in the smooth muscle of the stomach, thus suppressing appetite.  Certain points can be hooked up to an electrical stimulation machine which runs a small painless current through the needles to tone the stomach muscle.  Overeating stretches the stomach over time, requiring a person to eat more to feel full. Regular treatments have been shown to help tone and shrink the stomach muscle naturally so one feels full faster.

 

The Treatment Plan

For optimal treatment, acupuncture for weight loss should be scheduled once or twice a week for 8 to 12 weeks or until you reach your desired weight. Treatment sessions are 30 minutes to an hour depending on the individual’s needs and preferences.  The treatments may include a combination of auricular (ear) and body acupuncture, ear tacks or beads to leave on in-between treatments, herbs and supplements, moxibustion, abdominal massage, as well as food and lifestyle recommendations.  How much weight and how fast one loses it is dependent on the individual’s commitment to adjunctively add healthy lifestyle choices.  Lifestyle choices include optimizing a healthy diet, appropriate exercise, and herbal medicine.  We often recommend some type of method to address the spirit and emotional aspect of the weight gain such as meditation, hypnosis, yoga and breathing exercises.  An important benefit of acupuncture is that there are no harmful side effects and no possibility for addiction. Like most natural medicines, it is a completely safe and beneficial way to support a person’s journey of change.

 

To Learn More, Read These Two Studies :

 

Stimulation of auricular acupuncture points in weight loss.

 

“METHOD: Sixty overweight subjects, randomly divided into an active and a control group, used the AcuSlim device twice daily for four weeks. The active group attached the AcuSlim to the acupuncture ear points shenmen and stomach, whereas the control group attached the device to their thumb where there are no acupuncture points. The goal of a 2 kg weight loss was set and changes in appetite and weight were reported after four weeks.”

“RESULTS: Of those who responded, 95% of the active group noticed suppression of appetite, whereas none of the control group noticed such a change. None of the control group lost the required 2 kg, with only 4 subjects losing any weight at all. Both the number of subjects who lost weight and the mean weight loss were significantly higher in the active group (0.05).”

 

SOURCE:
Richards, Maley J. (1998). Stimulation of auricular acupuncture points in weight loss. Retrieved from http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/9679359

Electroacupuncture (EA) Therapy for Weight Loss Reduces Serum Total Cholesterol, Triglycerides, and LDL Cholesterol Levels in Obese Women.

 

“METHOD: EA was performed using the ear points, Hunger, Shen Men, and Stomach, and the body points, LI 4, LI 11, St 25, St 36, St 44 and Liv 3, once daily, for 30 minutes, for 20 days, whereas patients on diet restriction had a 1425 Kcal diet program, that consisted of 1425 Kcal daily for 20 days. There was a 4.8% weight reduction in patients with EA application, whereas patients on diet restriction had a 2.5% weight reduction. There were significant decreases in total cholesterol and triglyceride levels in EA and diet groups compared with the control group (p < 0.05 in both cases). Furthermore, there was a decrease in LDL levels in the EA group compared with the control group (0.05). No significant changes could be found in HDL levels among the three groups.”

 

“RESULTS:  Our results suggest that EA application in obese women may decrease the serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, and LDL cholesterol levels by increasing the serum beta endorphin level. This lipolytic effect of EA may also reduce the morbidity of obesity by mobilizing the energy stores that result in weight reduction.”

SOURCE:
Mehmet Tuǧrul Cabıoǧlu and Neyhan Ergene, Am. J. Chin. Med. 33, 525 (2005).  Electroacupuncture Therapy for Weight Loss Reduces Serum Total Cholesterol, Triglycerides, and LDL Cholesterol Levels in Obese Women. Retrieved from http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0192415X05003132

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