Acupuncture for weight loss – new evidence shows a hearty breakfast can be crucial
Acupuncture for weight loss: diet has always been an important part of acupuncture treatment. What we eat, the quality of the food we eat, how we prepare it and when we eat it have always been see as being fundamental to our physical and emotional health. A healthy eating regime is obviously a critical part of acupuncture for weight loss treatment. In modern times we are aware of the health risks posed by being overweight. We are also frequently under pressure to conform to various ideas of body image. No acupuncturist should carry out acupuncture for weight loss if the patient is purely after ‘cosmetic’ effect. The weight loss needs to be in the context of improving the patient’s over-all health and well-being.
Acheiving sustainable weight control
However acheiving these goals can be difficult especially in a long term, sustainable manner. Many of us are familiar with dieting, losing weight and then putting it back on again as we succumb to some of the foods we feel we have been depriving ourselves of! We are often bombarded by different ‘diets’ which are difficult to maintain over time.
Eat breakfast like a King, lunch like a Prince and supper like a pauper!
In Chinese medicine there has for thousands of years been the saying ‘Eat breakfast like a King, lunch like a Prince and supper like a pauper’. In the context of acupuncture for weight loss, acupuncture theory understands that the stomach’s qi (the metabolic energy of the stomach) peaks between 7am and 9 am in the morniung and that this is the best time to eat well. The body has not had any calorific intake over-night and is ready for refuelling.
These ideas are now backed up by research from Tel Aviv University The researchers had two groups, one of which had more of their daily calorific intake at breakfast time. The group which had the higher calorie intake at breakfast managed to keep their weight off more consistently than the other group. The food which they ate was not restricted in any way – so if they fancied something sweet like chocolate cake then that was fine! The researchers believe that if we deprive ourselves of these foods we have psychological withdrawl symptoms which makes it harder to maintain a healthy eating regime. Whilst over-consuming foods with refined sugars and carbohydrates is not advisable, if we eat some in moderation in the morning the body has a chance to burn off these calories. Eating a moderate amount of something we fancy is psychologically more of a balanced way of approaching a healthy eating regime than depriving ourselves and then binging on it when we feel we have failed!
Acupuncture for weight loss
Acupuncture can be used to help encourage a sustainable healthy eating regime. In Chinese medical theory the craving of certain foodstuffs and flavours is seen as a sign of imbalance in the body. Certain foods are also understood to slow down the body’s ability to metabolise food. Foods such as some dairy products, wheat products as well as foods containing processed sugars and sweeteners are classified as ‘damp’ foods. These foods can leave certain people feeling sluggish and can cause bloating. As part of the acupuncture treatment for weight management, I will recommend certain foods that will suit that person’s condition and metabolism, as well as which foods to avoid. And of course to eat breakfast like a King!
Research is an important area of study for the profession, to try and measure the effectiveness of treatment for various conditions as well as in attempting to see exactly how acupuncture works in terms of the physiology of the body.
Research on the effectiveness of acupuncture for pregnant women
Speakers include Sarah Budd who will be presenting research on the use of acupuncture in pregnancy. Acupuncture is frequently used to help relieve morning sickness. It is also a good treatment option for women who are suffering from back pain or pain around the front of the hip as pregnant women are often keen to avoid taking too much medication. Acupuncture treatment is often used to turn breech babies. In these treatments the practitioner gently warms an acupuncture point at the end of the little toe (Bladder 67) with a moxa stick. Moxa is a herb which is frequently used in acupuncture to help warm areas of the body.
Acupuncture helps trigger labour
Acupuncture is also frequently to help trigger labour and to help women give birth naturally. Pre-birth acupuncture treatments also help promote calmness and releive stress anxiety as the due date approaches.
British Acupuncture Council’s Acupuncture Awareness week
The British Acupuncture Council is also promoting an ‘acupuncture awareness week’ from the 27th of February to the 2nd of March to help answer faq’s on acupuncture. For example surveys show that people believe accupuncture needles to be the thickness of a hyperdermic needles when in fact the needles used are between 0.18 0.25 of a millimetre thick. If you have any questions about acupuncture you can phone Mark on 07798 622 788 or email him at markbutterworth@blueyonder.co.uk or arrange a free 20 minute face to face chat either at Burlington Court, New Street, Birmingham or Harborne, Birmingham.
The British Acupuncture Council is the body that regulates acupuncture in the UK. Mark Butterworth is a British Acupuncture Council registered practitioner who has used acupuncture for fertility and acupuncture for pregnancy related conditions as well as for other condition since 2003. For more information visit the homepage
Recent research from Japan shows that needling one of the acupuncture points Du 20 – Ba Hui (which is often translated into English as ‘One Hundred Meetings’), increases blood flow to the brain via the middle and anterior cerebral arteries (see link http://www.jcm.co.uk/research-archive/article/needling-du-20-increases-cerebral-blood-flow-1837/ ). This is of particular interest to acupuncturists as one of the actions of Du 20 according to acupuncture theory, is to help raise the qi of the body.
In acupuncture theory we understand that the qi (sometimes translated as the vital force of the body) travels with the blood. The relationship between qi and blood is inseparable, and blood can be regarded as a dense form of qi. “When qi moves, blood moves” – this quote from the acupuncture classical text the Su Wen describes how the qi makes the blood circulate efficiently.
Needling Du 20 increases blood flow to the brain
Therefore needling Du 20, the highest of the acupuncture points on the body and thus activating the qi at the top of the head where the point is found (see point location video) increases the blood flow to the brain. Acupuncturists often use this point alone, or in combination with other acupuncture points, to help raise the qi in the body – for example Du 20 is frequently used as a point in pregnancy if there is a threat of miscarriage (often in conjunction with Kidney 9 which helps prevent uterine cramping).
Many people will be familiar with Du 20 ‘Ba Hui’ through the practice of martial arts such as qigong, taichi or karate katas such as sanchin. Practitioners of these techniques imagine a silk thread pulling from the sky to Du 20, and then the down the through the spine to Ren 1 which ensures a good posture with a nice straight back. When this posture is aligned with breathing techniques it activates the circulation of qi between the ren and du channels increasing the martial artists’ power. The du meridian runs from the tip of the coccyx, up the spine to Du 20 at the top of the head and then over the midline of the head down the forehead and nose and ending on the gums in between the two front teeth. Acupuncture points all along this meridian are frequently needled for a variety of conditions.
Du is often translated as the ‘Governor Vessel’ and it is one of the 8 extraordinary meridians, the most basic channels of qi in the body (for a good explanation of these see John E. Pirog ‘The Practical Application of Meridian Style Acupuncture’). The Du meridian controls the yang forces of the body which in Chinese medical theory relate to consciousness and the senses. Points on the Du meridian are therefore often used in the treatment of headaches, dizziness and visual disorders as well as in helping to ‘lift the spirits’.
A report in the December issue of Anesthesia and Analgesia shows acupuncture provides greater relief than either medication or placebo. Dr. Tong J. Gan, the author of the studied commented that “People who get acupuncture prefer it to medication, because of the potential side effects of drugs.” For a fuller review of the article with references please follow the link -http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/health/research/16regi.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
