Gather round, I have big news: acupuncture is a magic bullet to switch off hunger, and Chinese herbs can effortlessly melt fat from your tummy and thighs! No exercise and no special diet needed. Sound too good to be true? That’s because it is, but don’t lose heart, because Chinese medicine can still be a useful weight loss tool.
There are a few annoying people who can eat anything and lounge around doing practically nothing but still stay thin. For most of us though, there is no way around it: weight loss requires a healthy diet and frequent exercise, plus the motivation and patience to sustain these lifestyle changes.
Still, there are some unlucky people who really give their all to clean eating and vigorous exercise but only lose a few measly grams. This isn’t fair, and Chinese medicine can help right this wrong.
Gaining weight easily and having difficulty losing it are signs of poor digestion or slow metabolism, and Chinese medicine can help with both of these problems. So if you have pronounced abdominal bloating, stomach pain, irregular bowels or loose stools, plus you can’t seem to lose weight, then yes, acupuncture and herbal medicine can help restore digestive function. When combined with proper diet and exercise you should find the pounds slipping off.
If you are frequently tired, feel cold easily, have a pale complexion, retain fluid in your belly or legs, plus you can’t shift that weight, then your metabolism is too sluggish and Chinese medicine can give it a boost. Once your metabolism is firing again, good diet and exercise can finally start to strip off the extra kilos.
Finally, if you find that you can’t seem to control your naughty eating habits, acupuncture may be able to dampen your cravings. There are special points on your outer ear that help control hunger. They won’t switch off your gastronomic desires completely but can take the edge away and make sticking to healthy eating easier.
Just yesterday a patient told me that acupuncture had helped her lose the last 5 kilos she hadn’t been able to shift. This came as a pleasant surprise for both of us, because I wasn’t treating her for weight loss. Instead, she came for treatment because of digestive problems. As these problems improved, she was able to break through the weight loss plateau that she had reached with diet and exercise alone.
It seems that adding acupuncture to her already healthy diet and exercise regime was the spark that she needed to meet her weight loss goal.
READ MORE: TCM: Liver Bashing
> Jon Hanlon is a Chinese medical practitioner, raised in the US, trained in Australia, now healing the sick in Guangzhou. You can contact him for a booking on 185 0202 5594 or jon@guangzhouacupuncture.com
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