Health Fitness

Acupuncture weight loss? Plus 5 Step Weight Loss Plan

I remember in my last year of high school, my best friend since the fifth grade lived in France. He wrote that they did not like Americans very much. “They think we are all fat,” he said. With his own slim body, of course, he confused his belief.

However, he added a fun, or perhaps ironic, cornerstone to the topic. “I went to a store and they were selling statues of these fat people, and at the bottom of each one was written: ‘American'”.

Obesity is not just an American problem. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is a global problem. They call it globesity. Paradoxically, his understanding of this problem began with his original mission to eliminate hunger and malnutrition. We live in a world where many have nothing to eat and many eat too much. From 1995 to 2000, the number of obese adults worldwide rose from 200 million to 300 million. That’s a 50% increase in just 5 years!
What is obesity and what is overweight?

Overweight means excess body weight. This excess weight can be muscle, bone, fat and / or body water. Obesity specifically refers to an abnormally high proportion of body fat. You can be overweight without being obese, for example a bodybuilder or other very muscular athlete. But many people who are overweight are also obese. The main way to determine whether you are overweight or obese is with your body mass index (BMI). It does not directly measure body fat and is not gender specific, but it does give you a pretty reliable estimate.

To find your BMI, divide your weight (in kilograms) by your height in meters squared. Yes, for those of you struggling with math, that’s complex, so I’ll give you a website that will figure it out for you, the BMI calculator from the National Institutes of Health (http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/ ). This will tell you very quickly if you are normal, overweight, or obese, and does all the calculations and metric conversions for you!

Overweight is defined as a BMI greater than 25 (including those with a BMI greater than 30), and obesity is a BMI greater than 30. Therefore, all obese people are overweight, but not all people are overweight. are obese.

The obesity epidemic

Obesity isn’t just about not feeling well or having trouble getting dates …

* Leads to more than 300,000 premature deaths each year in the United States. 90,000 are preventable cancer deaths. (CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION)

* Severely obese men die 13 years earlier than normal weight men (JAMA).

* As a killer in America, obesity is second only to tobacco. (CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION)

The weight loss industry

* Spending: Americans spend between $ 40-50 billion per year to lose weight.

* Results: I haven’t seen any recent news that Americans are losing weight, have I?

* Conclusion: What people are doing is not working. If we want different results, we have to try a different solution.

Acupuncture Weight Loss: Fantasy or Reality?

* Fantasy or reality? As a well-trained and fairly conservative Chinese medicine practitioner, I had assumed that acupuncture for weight loss was a marketing fad and a patients’ fantasy.

* Evidence: But while researching my upcoming book, Chinese Medicine: A Practical Guide to Optimal Healing, I came across surprisingly positive information that changed my mind.

Chinese Medicine Collective Clinical Data on Acupuncture Weight Loss

Chinese Medicine has thousands of years of clinical experience. These collective data are not as compelling as randomized controlled trials are, but they contain the truth: they are imperfect, but they are still valid and important.

A US government study in the 1980s concluded that 85% of Western medicine is based on clinical experience, not research. (US Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, The Impact of Randomized Controlled Trials on Health Policy and Medical Practice, Background Paper OTA-BP-H-22. See also Michael Millenson’s book, Demanding Medical Excellence)

There is good research on Chinese Medicine in Taiwan, Australia, and Europe that is ignored by American scientists and media. Much of the research in Chinese has not even been translated into English.
Seven Acupuncture Studies for Weight Loss

How it works: By enhancing the function of two neuroendocrine pathways that regulate many bodily processes, including metabolism.

What are you doing:

* Reduces body weight, body fat, insulin levels and blood lipid levels.

* Decreases excessive appetite and makes it easier to satisfy your hunger with less food.

* Decreases the weight gain of menopause.

* In one study, acupuncture lost 10 pounds in 2 months, that translates to 60 pounds in one year!

* Combined with diet monitoring and aerobic counseling, you not only shed the pounds and body fat, but keep them down, especially if you are diligent with exercise.

(See references at the end of the article for research)
Misuse and erroneous legislation of ephedra

Ephedra is a Chinese herb for colds and coughs. It has been misused to increase metabolism and this misuse has caused numerous deaths. As a result, the FDA is considering a total ban on ephedra products. We can blame two important things:

1. Supplement companies that care more about your money than your health (no, not all are, but some are, especially those that market weight loss formulas).

2. The idea that you can safely medicate yourself with herbs: Self-medication of any kind is risky. Herbal self-medication is off the radar and generally people think it can be done safely. The ephedra debacle is one example of how dangerous it can be.

Traditionally, Chinese herbs are given in formulas (not alone), which is safer and more personalized. They are prescribed by a Chinese medicine practitioner who first diagnoses your specific imbalances. Ephedra would never be given for weight loss, but only for certain types of colds and coughs, and only for people whose body can handle it.

No traditional Chinese herb should be banned without allowing Chinese doctors to continue to use it traditionally.
Food cravings

* Problem # 1 (Enzyme deficiency): The foods you crave depend on your personal imbalances. Modern digestive science explains that when your body can’t digest a food, it craves for more, it doesn’t get what it needs. This leads to a cycle of craving and consuming the exact food that you cannot digest.

* Problem # 2 (Low blood sugar): Another vicious cycle occurs when you cannot digest complex carbohydrates, so your blood sugar is low, so you eat simple carbohydrates that increase your level of blood sugar, which increases insulin, lowering your blood sugar level again. , and you’re stuck eating donuts and feeling awful.

* Solution: Enzymes (I recommend several enzyme formulations from a company called Transformations) and Chinese herbal formulas can help you digest your food and break both cycles.

You can lose weight safely if you do it slowly and naturally.

You can lose up to 2 pounds a week without getting it back. That means you could lose 104 pounds this year and not get it back!

The positive change is like stretching a rubber band: if it is stretched too much and too fast, it breaks or gets hit again.

So avoid the temptation to take an easy fix like ephedra or citrus aurantium (both misused Chinese herbs), because you’ll regain the weight and risk heart problems and strokes.
5 things to do right now
Lose 10 pounds in 2 months
And keep them away:

1. Avoid highly commercialized supplements; instead, consult a trained professional herbalist (acupuncturist); it is safer and more effective; my preference would be a Chinese medicine practitioner, but some very well educated western herbalists are good too.

2. Acupuncture Weight Loss: Consult a Chinese acupuncturist / herbalist. Get acupuncture (one to three times a week) to SAFELY regulate your metabolism and satisfy hunger. Your acupuncturist can also provide you with the herbs that will balance your digestion and cravings, and based on your Chinese pattern diagnosis, they can also provide personalized dietary advice. Herbs and enzymes (specific formulations from the enzyme company Transformations) can suppress your food cravings.

3. Develop a plan and goals with your acupuncturist and aerobics instructor, make it realistic, and stick with it. If you’re wrong, don’t beat yourself up, get back on track as soon as you can. Any progress is better than none.

4. Eat less, exercise more: eat a low-fat diet and don’t miss breakfast. Weigh yourself regularly and exercise for an hour a day. Start by walking for a few minutes each day or taking the stairs at work. Do not exaggerate! Remember the rubber band. In fact, you may want to wear an elastic band around your wrist to remind yourself to make changes slowly. Get help with aerobic exercise: a public class or private aerobic counseling.

5. Join a support group like Weight Watchers or Overeaters Anonymous. There is nothing like positive friends to cheer you up and keep you on track. OA members say this spiritual action program has changed the way they relate to food.

References and resources

1. US Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, The Impact of Randomized Controlled Trials on Health Policy and Medical Practice, Background Paper OTA-BP-H-22.

2. Book by Michael Millenson, Demanding Medical Excellence

3. Effect of acupuncture on weight loss assessed by adrenal function. Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, September 1993, 13 (3): 169-73.

4. Wozniak, P., Oszukowski, P., Stachowiak, G. and Szyllo, K. [The effectiveness of low-calorie diet or diet with acupuncture treatment in obese peri- and postmenopausal women] (in Polish). Ginekol.Pol. Vol. 74 Edition 2 pp. 102-107. 2003

5. Acupuncture on the spleen, stomach and Ren Mai channel points for the treatment of the stomach and intestine. Full heat pattern Simple obesity. Summarized and translated by Bob Flaws, Dipl. CA Y CH, Lic. Ac., FNAAOM, FRCHM

6. Richards D, Marley J. Stimulation of auricular acupuncture points in weight loss. Aust Fam Physician. 1998 Jul; 27 Suppl 2: S73-7.

7. Zhao, M., Liu, Z. and Su, J. The time-effect relationship of central action in acupuncture treatment for weight reduction. J Tradit Chin Med Vol. 20 Edition 1 pp. 26-29. 2000

8. Liu, Z. Mechanisms underlying the effects of acupuncture moxibustion in simple obesity complicated by hypertension. Inter J Clin Acup 371-378, 1995.

9. Studies of the weight loss industry

10. Prevalence and effect of obesity

11. Anonymous compulsive eaters

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