How Chinese Acupuncture Can Help with Weight Loss

Trying to lose weight? We’re all familiar with the logical formula for reaching this goal: helping the body take in fewer calories than it burns. And how does that work in practice? Eating foods that are low in calories and high in nutritional value, and helping the body “burn off” as many calories as possible through physical activity. But this common formula, while certainly correct, isn’t the only way to lose weight. Meet the ancient method that helps the body help itself: Chinese acupuncture. How exactly do the Chinese needles help us feel better? And what’s the connection between them and weight loss? Here’s everything you need to know about this alternative method.

Chinese medicine that does good for body and soul

There are people who have tried everything, from strict diets, through extreme fasts, to fat freezing treatments for weight loss. All this time, between counting calories and abstaining from sweets or carbs, there was one method — effective, ancient beyond compare, and one that simply helps the body help itself: Chinese acupuncture. But before we start talking about the technique and its effectiveness for weight loss, it’s important to say from the outset: there is no direct link between shedding kilograms and acupuncture treatments. So what is there? Through Chinese acupuncture, patients receive a kind of invisible crutches that simply encourage the body to move in the right direction, in the most natural, foundational and harmonious way there is.

How exactly does acupuncture help with weight loss?

In acupuncture treatments, fine needles are inserted along specific pathways in the body to improve the flow of energy within it. By using these small needles, acupuncture may encourage the release of certain chemicals in the body. Among these chemicals are serotonin and endorphins, which stimulate our physical and mental systems — making us feel better, more balanced, happier and full of energy. In what way? Here are a few wonderful channels through which acupuncture affects weight loss:

Reducing stress

Stress (and the inability to cope with it) can tempt us toward comforting foods that are readily available and not necessarily healthy for us. When we’re stressed, we don’t always think about what’s good for us, for our body and mind, but instead focus on the most available ways to satisfy our hunger — and that isn’t always the healthiest way either. Whether it’s drinking alcohol, smoking a cigarette, or uncontrolled eating of sweet foods, in the end, stress — which isn’t good in itself — also causes us to abandon a healthy lifestyle and gain weight. This “effect” also has a scientific explanation. When we’re under stress, our body produces excess amounts of the stress hormone cortisol, and that’s what causes us to make unhealthy choices.
This is where Chinese acupuncture comes into the picture. Through the needles entering the body in a controlled way, the body is awakened to relaxation and rest, which proactively reduces tension and helps us make better choices.

More energy

Treatment with traditional Chinese medicine works together with Western medicine, not against it. Today everyone knows: when energy flows better and we feel more energetic, we get a better chance to make the right choices when it comes to the food we eat. Energetic people suffer less from joint pain and inflammation, and are able to exercise more effectively and for longer. In addition, their hormonal system is also affected by this and contributes to more efficient metabolism. Chinese acupuncture helps the body flow with new, fresh energy that encourages us to move in the right direction.

Eating less

A study published in 2014 in BMJ Open Gastroenterology examined two groups: one attended a weekly acupuncture session and the other did not. It was found that the people who kept up with the acupuncture sessions managed to lose more weight than those who didn’t participate in acupuncture at all. Researchers assume the reason for this is the suppression of ghrelin levels in the body, the growth hormone that increases appetite.

Balancing blood sugar levels

A study conducted among overweight women who chose to undergo Chinese acupuncture treatments showed a real improvement in their blood sugar levels. And when blood sugar levels are balanced, this also helps regulate appetite and increase the feeling of fullness — which leads to eating less.

Want a change?

For acupuncture treatments to truly be effective and help the body’s ability to stimulate itself to act, it’s highly recommended to combine acupuncture with proper nutrition and physical activity. Only this way, by combining these three elements, can you enjoy quality results that are also effective over time.