Can acupuncture help you lose weight?

Acupuncture is a wonderful, flexible form of medicine that can help support all sorts of conditions from musculoskeletal disorders and insomnia, to anxiety and digestive disorders. However, inevitably, I get asked the question “can you help me lose weight?”

There is no magic pill that could easily whisk away unwanted pounds/kilos. Most people know that you basically need to do two things; lessen your calorie intake and increase your physical activity. From a Chinese medicine point of view however, there is a lot we can do to increase the efficiency of your digestive system so that you are taking in the maximum nutrients from the foods you eat, getting all the fluids you need, and getting rid of the resulting waste products from your body.

It all sounds very simple, except quite often years of bad eating habits and a busy lifestyle have resulted in a sluggish digestion. Oedema, for example, is a sign that our body is not able to transport fluids and get rid of what it doesn’t need. An acupuncturist can help balance the energy of the organs that are responsible for the transportation and transformation of fluids in the body.

What Chinese medicine can’t do is offer a quick fix. Don’t believe anyone who promises that.