Acupuncture is a practice derived from traditional Chinese medicine that is based on the principles of energy circulation in the body. It involves placing fine needles on specific points of the body to provide numerous benefits such as reducing fatigue, stress, sleep disturbances, and more. Would you like to know how such small needles can also help you lose weight? We'll see right away!
What is acupuncture and how does it work?
Acupuncture is one of the founding practices of traditional Chinese medicine. It is based on the concept of the circulation of positive and negative energy flows in your body. According to this theory, every healthy person has balanced flows that circulate properly. Conversely, a person in poor health has unbalanced flows that will need to be rebalanced to bring greater well-being. Generally, acupuncture is used to treat various ailments such as fatigue, insomnia, migraines, intestinal problems, etc.
More concretely, an acupuncture session consists of you lying down and relaxing. A practitioner then places fine needles on your body at strategic and very specific points on your skin. The energy flow is specific to each person and the cause of the imbalance differs depending on your experience, your state of health, your body, etc. Thus the points differ depending on the person. Similarly, if you want to try acupuncture to lose weight, the duration and number of sessions vary from one person to another.
PS: Although it might not seem so at first glance, this procedure is not painful! The needles, which are very fine, are only placed on the surface of your skin.
The benefits of acupuncture in weight loss
To begin, we want to remind you that acupuncture is not a method that will make you lose weight per se. It works more as a slimming boost.
Acupuncture sessions for weight loss can help you lower your levels of ghrelin, the hunger hormone in your body. This way, it will be easier for you to resist snacking! Acupuncture will also help you reduce your stress levels. Feeling more relaxed can once again help you avoid snacking between meals or eating too much fat and/or sugar. Something we tend to do a lot when we don't feel well!
Acupuncture and weight loss, does it work?
As you can see, acupuncture is more of what you might call a slimming “supplement.” It can actually be very useful in acting on your appetite as well as regulating your weight. However, acupuncture will only be effective if you integrate it into a real weight loss program (healthy diet and exercise)! This way, you will be able to lose weight gradually, while avoiding cravings and dietary excesses.
So my Wander Nana, tempted by an acupuncture session to lose weight?!