Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine

I’m often asked the question if acupuncture can help with weight loss. Sticking a couple of needles in someone isn’t generally enough to lose weight, but acupuncture along with proper diet and exercise and other lifestyle changes can help you lose weight. With an obesity rate of 23.9%, New York certainly has enough people who need to lose weight (Onondaga County is just under 29%). Add in the number of people who are not obese but overweight and that’s a lot of people looking to shed some pounds.

Americans spend over $40 billion a year on weight loss – diets, books, pharmaceuticals and supplements, etc. How can we spend so much money on a problem and still have almost a quarter of our population be obese? I don’t have an answer but my suspicion is because there are a lot of people who are just not willing to make the necessary lifestyle changes to effectively and safely lose and maintain an appropriate weight. I also think there are several things that are often overlooked in the process, some simple changes that can make a weight loss plan work better.

First we need to understand what causes excess weight. This way my recommendations will hopefully make more sense and you will be better able to make decisions for yourself. I’ll assume that most readers have an understanding of what causes weight gain from the Western perspective, so let’s take a look at the relevant concepts in Chinese medicine.

In it’s most simplest form weight loss involves burning more calories that you consume. Therefore diet and digestion play a big role in effective weight loss. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) digestion is ruled by the stomach and the spleen systems. The stomach stores the food and the spleen controls digestive processes and metabolism. (You may be asking yourself how the spleen is involved at all. Note that I’m using the term spleen system, in TCM we think of organs as being more than just the physical body part and think in terms of a collection of different physiological processes. The spleen system also includes the pancreas which is important for glucose metabolism.) In the realm of weight management the spleen system is very important.

The spleen system controls the transformation of food into energy (in TCM that would be qi) to support the body. Secondly it determines what happens to the fluid content of our food and of the body as a whole. This concept of fluid metabolism is a major part of weight management in TCM. When we don’t properly process fluids in the body they start to build up forming what we call phlegm-damp. Fat is basically just an accumulation of phlegm-damp. It just hangs out waiting for the spleen system to deal with it. If given the right circumstances the spleen system will eventually process it appropriately allowing us to lose weight. Therefore, to lose weight we must make sure the spleen system is able to properly do it’s job of managing digestion and fluid metabolism.

Now let’s look at some things that you can do to support your spleen system to improve your metabolism and help your body lose weight: (Please note these recommendations are generalized for the types of patients I typically see in my clinic who are trying to lose weight. There is rarely a one-size-fits-all approach, especially in Chinese medicine. For a more individualized weight loss plan please call me – or if you are not in the Syracuse or Oneida area, find a qualified practitioner near you.)

Eat a warm breakfast – I think we all have heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. In TCM that is definitely true. After being dormant for several hours it is important that we wake up the spleen system which is best done with a hot meal. Notice I’ve specified a warm meal. The spleen system likes warmth and has an easier time digesting warm foods. So skip that bowl of cold cereal or that cup of yogurt and instead think of trying oatmeal or some eggs for breakfast. Add a little cinnamon to the oatmeal, especially in winter, to make it a little more warm in nature.

Cook your food – a very common mistake I see from people trying to lose weight is that they start to eat more raw vegetables, especially salads I know that seems odd since vegetables are very healthy and important in losing weight. But notice I specified raw vegetables. Uncooked veggies are harder to digest which causes the spleen system to get backed up in it’s metabolic duties. What does it do when it gets back up? It stores it away until it can deal with it later – in the form of fat. So eat plenty of veggies but keep the raw to a minimum and at least steam or stir-fry your veggies. Think of it as using the heat to pre-digest some of the food. You don’t necessarily want to go too far in the other direction and overcook the veggies either like when making a stew. This can actually break down the nutrients in the food.

Cut back on the dairy – right up there in popularity with salads is yogurt. In recent years yogurt has been marketed as this super-healthy food. I’m not saying it is or isn’t healthy. Rather in the context of losing weight it is not a good option. Remember how I said that in TCM fat is phlegm-damp? Have you ever noticed what your throat feels like after eating a lot of dairy? (If not, ask most singers and they will tell you that you will get a lot of phlegm and mucus in your throat). Dairy is a very cold food and it produces phlegm in the body. I’m not saying you need to cut dairy out completely but instead of a cup of yogurt for breakfast or some cheese as a mid-afternoon snack keep it to a minimum in your meals. Also note that soy products also act in the same way as dairy. Soy milk is not a good substitute and if you eat a lot of tofu you should consider cutting it back some.

Exercise – this one is pretty straight forward. Burn more calories than you consume and you will lose weight. At least theoretically that is true. Many people will tell you they’ve done that and still didn’t lose weight. Possibly they were making some of the mistakes I pointed out above. But recent research shows that inactivity during most of the day is not necessarily balanced out by vigorous exercise after work for a short period of time. In my opinion there needs to be a good balance of activity levels. Start the day with some light exercises to get the metabolism going (along with your warm breakfast). Qigong, tai chi, and yoga can be great for this. Begin with lighter activity and build up to more vigorous activity. You don’t need to go run 5 miles, just get the muscles moving and the blood pumping. The most important part of the equation is during the day. Many people have jobs that require them to be sitting at a desk for hours at a time. Make sure you get up and move frequently during the day, even if it’s just to get up and stretch a little. If you spend a lot of time on the couch, consider getting up during commercial breaks and walk around the house (if you have DVR resist the urge to just fast-forward through the commercials). Not only is this good for metabolism but it also helps prevent some chronic pains. Then throw in some good vigorous exercises during the week and you’ll be good to go.

Reduce stress – this is a good idea whether or not you are trying to lose weight. The chemicals our bodies release in response to stress encourages fat storage. Stress also contributes and/or makes a lot of other health problems worse. Acupuncture can do a great job in relieving stress and there are many other good ways to reduce stress in your life. The important part to remember is that taking time to do a stress-relieving activity is not a nicety but a necessity. No matter how busy you are you can always set aside 15 minutes for yourself.

Sleep – a lot of people do not get enough sleep. Make sure you give yourself enough time to get 8 hours of sleep and if you have some other problem preventing sleep that should be dealt with as well (acupuncture can help in a variety of cases).

Stay hydrated – this may seem a little contradictory after what I said about fluid metabolism in the body but keeping the body hydrated is important for overall health. Water is the best choice, of course, but tea can also be a great beverage. Studies show that green and oolong teas help support weight loss and also have a variety of other health benefits. Pay attention to the caloric content of your beverages. It is very easy to consume a lot of calories in beverages, but it is also an easy place to reduce your caloric intake.

So how does acupuncture fit into the equation? Since weight gain is caused by an imbalance in the body acupuncture can help restore the balance to encourage weight loss. When using acupuncture a big focus of treatment is supporting the spleen system for the reasons described above. There is also a great 4 point protocol that can be used. The points used help deal with stress, digestion, hormone balance, and appetite control. Most people who are overweight have an issue with 2 or more of those areas. Acupuncture is also great at reducing pain and increasing range of motion in injured joints. So for people who are unable to get the appropriate amount of exercise due to injury or chronic pain the acupuncture treatment may also focus on pain relief to allow them to get more exercise. The recommendations given above can be a great way to start losing weight and on their own may be sufficient while adding acupuncture can help improve results and remove any obstacles that may be preventing you from reaching your weight loss goals.