Acupuncture For Weight Loss

Acupuncture Treatments for Weight Loss

Each year, roughly 95 percent of Americans fail in their attempt to lose the weight they need to in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Recent studies have shown that when traditional weight loss methods are combined with acupuncture, patients lose more weight.

Why Can't I Lose Weight?

There are several reasons that could be to blame for not shedding a few extra pounds. Some of the most common include:

• Skipping breakfast. When you skip the first meal of the day, you're more likely to get hungrier later and overdo it at lunch.
• Late-night meals. Eating too close to bedtime may raise your body's blood sugar and insulin, which makes it harder for you to burn fat.
• Stress. This can make you reach for high-calorie, high-fat foods. Your body also stores more fat when you're stressed out.
• Metabolism. Individuals with lean, muscular bodies tend to burn more calories than people with a higher percentage of body fat.
• Age. Your metabolism slows down between two and 8 percent every decade.
• Eating too little. If you skip meals or follow a low-calorie diet, your body may burn calories more slowly.
• Sleep. If you don't get enough sleep each night, it can make it harder to lose weight. Your metabolism may slow down, and you may burn calories slower.

Home Remedies for Weight Loss

There are three things you can do to help lose weight the healthy way:

• Cut back on sugars and starches. When you do that, your hunger levels decrease, and you eat fewer calories. And instead of burning carbs for energy, your body starts feeding off of stored fat.
• Eat protein, fat and, vegetables. Each meal should include a protein, a fat, and low-carb vegetables. High-protein diets have been shown to reduce cravings. And it is the king of nutrients when it comes to weight loss.
• Lift weights three times per week. By lifting weights, you will burn calories and prevent your metabolism from slowing down, a common side effect of losing weight. You can also do cardio workouts like jogging, running, walking, cycling, or swimming.

Click Here to Receive a $40 Certificate for your 1st Acupuncture Treatment and Evaluation.

Medical Treatments for Weight Loss

Your physician may also suggest medical treatments for weight loss. There are several types of weight loss surgeries that can be divided into three categories:

• Restrictive surgeries. This type works by shrinking the size of the stomach and slowing down digestion. Typically, a normal stomach can hold about three pints of food. After gastric surgery, the stomach can hold as little as an ounce. Later, that could stretch to two or three ounces. The smaller the stomach, the less you can eat. The less you eat, the more weight you lose.
• Malabsorptive or restrictive surgeries. These change how you take in food. Your physician gives you a smaller stomach and also removes or bypasses part of your digestive tract. This makes it more difficult for your body to absorb calories.
• Implanting an electrical device. This is the newest technique, which prompts weight loss by interrupting nerve signals between the stomach and the brain.

Acupuncture And Weight Loss

Acupuncture is a needle-based, nonsurgical alternative therapy sometimes used for weight loss. A form of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), acupuncture stimulates the body's flow of vital energy (or "qi") and improves several factors that contribute to obesity.

Acupuncture's underlying theory is that blockages in an individual's qi cause imbalances that materialize as health problems like obesity. Undergoing acupuncture treatments may suppress the appetite, reduce stress, and boost metabolism.

According to TCM, excessive weight gains are caused mainly by imbalances in the body due to a malfunction of the spleen and liver organ systems.

During an acupuncture session, a physician will select several acupuncture points to address. Thin acupuncture needles are inserted into acupuncture points, which may be on the body and/or the outer ear.

Acupuncturists may use electro-acupuncture to stimulate the points with a metal probe instead of acupuncture needles. Some physicians apply a pellet or ear seed over certain acupuncture points on the ear.

The Benefits of Acupuncture for Weight Loss

There are seven ways acupuncture can help with weight loss:

• Reduces appetite. This treatment can manipulate the levels of leptin and ghrelin to reduce your appetite and curb your snacking habits.
• Improves digestion. Stomach and kidney acupuncture points have the ability to improve the functioning of the digestive system and increase the number of nutrients that are taken in by the body. You can also relieve bloating and other issues.
• Reduces inflammation. This can slow down your metabolism and put a strain on your immune system. Acupuncture can lower an individual's levels of oxidative stress and optimize your body for weight loss.
• Stops water retention. Stimulating the nerves of the kidney and endocrine system can stop water retention in the body.
• Hormone production. If you are experiencing a hormone imbalance, many bodily processes can be negatively affected. Acupuncture can help balance hormone levels.
• Boost metabolism. Your pituitary gland is one of the key areas of the body in relation to metabolism.
• Improves mood. Acupuncture is able to eliminate stress and anxiety due to the release of endorphins in the body, which are the feel-good hormones.

Conclusion

Americans spend over 33 billion dollars every year on weight-loss programs. While the majority of those individuals fail in their attempt to lose weight, acupuncture offers an alternative approach to shedding those extra pounds.

Alpha Chiropractic and Physical Therapy provides Acupuncture treatments among other therapies. They treat many patients in Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Tempe, Phoenix, and Maricopa. Learn more about our unique Chandler Chiropractic Clinic.

Click Here to Receive a $40 Certificate for your 1st Acupuncture Treatment and Evaluation.