Weight loss and acupuncture is a widely researched and discussed subject among traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. Chinese medicine has been widely practiced in the east for more than 5000 years and largely gaining popularity in the west lately. This is the Chinese art of treating various medical conditions by piercing the body with hair thin needles at particular body points to regulate the flow of energy rejuvenating life in the body cells.

How weight loss and acupuncture work

This treatment treats the psychological and physical components of excess weight. It affects the physical functioning of the body and heals the mind too. This helps one lose weight and keeps it off in the long run.

From a traditional Chinese medicine point of view, the herbs and foods chosen when combined with acupuncture influence the spleen, Qi and liver systems. This activates direct loss of weight and treats the root imbalances that cause weight gain. Western and Chinese medicine have a direct effect on the nervous system endocrine and digestive systems, influencing food cravings and overall metabolism. This maximizes nutrients absorption and energizes the body, suppresses appetite and controls overeating while reducing anxiety, which is a major contributor to overeating.

Treatment is usually centered on the needs of the individual patient with treatment duration being anything from 8 weeks to 12 weeks or until the desired weight has been achieved. These may include auricular (ear) and body acupuncture. Ear seeds or tacks are left on in between the treatments in combination with herbs food and lifestyle recommendations.

The ear is a micro system of the body and auricular points for weight loss and acupuncture are effective at treating obesity. The seed sized magnets taped to the points enhance the effectiveness of the auricular points at home. The beads can stay on the ear for 3 to 7 days, and should be gently massaged at 10-second intervals if food cravings occur. The most commonly used auricular points for weight loss and acupuncture are:

• Mouth: this is calmed to minimize overeating over talking and smoking

• Hunger point: used to control compulsive eating and reliever hunger

• Shenmen: calms the mind and reduces stress

• Small intestine: promotes digestion and reinforces spleen

Conditions treated with acupuncture

Apart from weight loss and acupuncture, it is also used to treat other medical conditions like migraines, lower back pains, hormonal imbalance, and other medical conditions. These include diseases of the muscles joints and bones, diseases of the central nervous system, digestive disorders, diseases of the heart and blood vessels, respiratory system and obstetrics gynecology conditions.

Weight loss and acupuncture benefits

Acupuncture is a natural way of losing weight that has no known side effects that are associated with crash diets and supplement medication. Weight loss and acupuncture is a natural and methodically slow process, which does not offer instant or magical results. It regulates the metabolism and controls food cravings.

When one is considering weight loss and acupuncture along with other Chinese medicine, one is assured of weight loss. When used along with other weight management tools Chinese medicine and acupuncture are effective at boosting energy, overcoming cravings and enhancing the overall will power to lose weight. Weight loss and acupuncture are great when one is struggling to increase metabolism while eating less.