Learn More About Acupuncture for Weight Loss
Learn about how acupuncture, combined with other treatment options, can help you lose weight - and keep it off!
Acupuncture for Weight Loss
About 75% of adults in the United States are overweight or obese, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. For some, being overweight or obese has little impact on their day-to-day life. However, for others, weight loss may be an overarching goal. Weight loss can help ameliorate the symptoms of medical conditions, could help folks get into or back to activities they enjoy, or could simply be a goal like a New Year’s resolution.
Body weight can be influenced by many factors: medical conditions, metabolism, medications, lifestyle, environment, genetics, relationship to food, and more. Even structural things can get in the way of achieving an ideal weight. Food deserts may impact your ability to access nutritious food, available time may impede your ability to cook or prepare meals, depression or anxiety may prevent you from getting active as much as you’d like.
As one article points out, “Numerous people cannot manage the weight only through dietary change and increasing physical activity.” Instead, the promotion of ineffective and sometimes dangerous diets can lead to the belief that weight management is impossible, and discourage folks from trying again.
But no matter your reason for weight gain, and no matter your reason for wanting to lose weight, doing so in a safe and effective manner is possible. Rather than encouraging crash diets, unattainable fitness regiments, or other popular and sometimes unsafe methods of losing weight, it may surprise you to learn that acupuncture can be a safe, natural, and effective tool in your weight loss journey.
According to HealthLine, acupuncture has multiple natural benefits that can aid in your ability to lose and effectively manage your weight. Their article details how acupuncture can increase your metabolism while at the same time reducing appetite and cravings. It can also help relieve stress, which is one of several reasons people overeat.
These claims are backed up by data. According to a 2019 article, acupuncture was found to have a positive impact in the management of obesity. They found that in several clinical studies, acupuncture, “regulates the endocrine system, promotes digestion, attenuates oxidative stress, and modulates relevant molecules of metabolism,” for most patients treated for obesity. Their findings in reviews of laboratory studies were that acupuncture, “…regulates lipid metabolism, modulates inflammatory responses, and promotes white adipose tissue browning.”
These findings indicate that acupuncture can positively indicate the systems most often at work when contributing to weight gain and loss. When wanting to lose weight, having a mechanism that can impact the chemistry in your body—such as your endocrine system, digestion, metabolism, and inflammation—could be incredibly beneficial to your ability to curb cravings and gain the energy needed to get active.
Besides impacting these biological mechanisms, acupuncture can be beneficial in weight loss by curbing cravings and boosting energy. One acupuncture protocol, originally intended to treat addiction, has found success when treating food addiction and cravings as well.
There are also studies supporting acupuncture’s ability to help treat chronic fatigue. Promising results have been found in which 90% of folks with chronic fatigue recovered, supporting the ability of acupuncture to give a boost to energy.
Along with this ability to treat fatigue in general, acupuncture is well-known as a natural pain reliever (check out our pages on acupuncture for neck pain, back pain, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and more), which can be a major obstacle in engaging in regular exercise.
In summary, there are a multitude of ways in which acupuncture could be beneficial in your weight loss journey. From impacting your body’s metabolism and other weight-regulating systems, to curbing food cravings, to providing the energy and pain relief necessary to get active, acupuncture could be the safe and natural tool you’ve been looking for to help you lose weight.
Our providers would be happy to speak with you about weight loss goals. Their expertise in treating numerous conditions, as well as their ability to help counsel you regarding nutrition and lifestyle, could be incredibly beneficial to you for a goal of weight management. For more information or for help scheduling, feel free to contact our offices at info@loveacu.net or call us at (503) 343 9851 six days a week.
If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 911. Do not wait for an appointment with us. We are happy to work with you on chronic or ongoing health conditions; however, we are not equipped for or specialized in urgent or emergent care.
For Further Reading:
“Acupuncture for Weight Loss,” Healthline; Scott Frothingham, 2018.
“Can NADA Acupuncture Help with Addiction and Trauma?” Cleveland Clinic, HealthEssentials; 2021.
“Chronic Fatigue Recovery with Acupuncture,” Healthcare Medicine Institute, News; 2017.
“What Are Overweight and Obesity?” National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.