Achieving Weight Loss with Traditional Chinese Medicine

Summer is the perfect time for weight loss, but many people either “can’t control their mouths” or “can’t move their legs,” and can only sigh at the numbers on the scale. Don’t worry! Besides a healthy diet and regular exercise, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) also has unique advantages in helping with weight loss! In this article, you will learn about obesity and how to use TCM external treatments such as Tui Na massage, Gua Sha, cupping, and moxibustion to treat obesity.

Why Do People Gain Weight?

TCM believes that obesity is mostly caused by overeating rich foods and lack of exercise. Due to the deficiency of Yang Qi in the body, excessive phlegm and dampness, and spleen Qi deficiency, the body’s transportation and transformation functions become weak. This leads to the essence of food and water failing to be properly distributed, turning into fat and dampness, which stagnates in the body and causes obesity. As early as the “Huangdi Neijing” period, obesity was divided into three categories: Gao Ren, Zhi Ren, and Rou Ren.

• Gao Ren: Characterized by a lot of fat, the fat is soft and flabby, lacking elasticity, and even sagging. This group needs to lose weight.
• Zhi Ren: Slightly fat but well-proportioned.
• Rou Ren: A normal weight person with an above-average build.

TCM Weight Loss Techniques

TCM weight loss mainly involves creating a scientific weight loss plan based on individual differences. Along with dietary, exercise, and psychological guidance, various TCM methods such as herbal medicine, moxibustion, and acupuncture are used to regulate the internal environment and balance of Yin and Yang in the body. These methods aim to correct metabolic and endocrine disorders, restore the normal functions of the liver, spleen, and kidneys, and achieve weight loss without harming the body or depleting Qi. The ultimate goal of TCM weight loss is to correct imbalanced body constitution, which is the fundamental solution.

Specific Methods:

Herbal Medicine

Herbal medicine is the most commonly used TCM treatment method in clinical practice and is also a common way to lose weight.If you have a deficiency in your body, fear of cold, and heavy cold-dampness, herbal medicine is suitable. Our TCM department has also carefully formulated herbal tea for weight loss, eliminating the hassle of decocting medicine. Those troubled by weight loss can use it under the guidance of a TCM physician.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture for weight loss avoids the side effects of drugs by regulating the secretion of digestive juices and gastrointestinal motility, suppressing excessive appetite, improving insulin resistance, and adjusting intestinal flora, thereby reducing weight and improving lipid metabolism. However, acupuncture requires regular hospital visits. If you are not afraid of needles and can arrange the time, you can choose acupuncture for weight loss.

Thread Embedding Therapy

Thread embedding therapy is an upgraded version of acupuncture for weight loss. It uses absorbable medical materials instead of acupuncture needles, providing continuous “acupoint massage” for 24 hours. It only requires treatment once every two weeks, making it safe, time-saving, and less prone to rebound.

Moxibustion

Moxibustion can warm Yang and promote water metabolism, strengthen the spleen, and resolve dampness. It is suitable for patients with phlegm-dampness constitution and Yang deficiency constitution.

For more courses, please visit TCM External Treatments for Obesity

Ear Acupuncture

If you are concerned about drug side effects and fear needles, you can choose ear acupuncture for weight loss. By selecting acupoints related to obesity on the ear and applying small ear seeds or press needles, you can achieve weight loss. The downside is that it requires daily pressing and takes longer to see results.

Gua Sha and Cupping

Both Gua Sha and cupping stimulate acupoints and unblock meridians through mechanical action. Gua Sha can clear heat and detoxify, promote blood circulation, and strengthen the spleen and stomach. Cupping can promote gastrointestinal motility, improve digestive function, and enhance metabolism. Both are suitable for simple obesity.

Stomach Strengthening and Digestive Method

Overweight individuals often overindulge in rich foods, leading to oil and grease clogging the stomach, causing bloating, belching, acid reflux, and a greasy mouth with a thick tongue coating. Therefore, the stomach-strengthening and fat-reducing method is often used. Common herbs include hawthorn, malt, and radish seeds to aid digestion. Traditional Chinese patent medicines include Jiao Sanxian and Baohe Wan. In daily life, you can consume hawthorn fruit, hawthorn cake, and hawthorn packs, which are sweet and convenient. Eating raw or stir-fried fresh radish is also an excellent dietary therapy.

Through the unique therapies of TCM, people with obesity can not only achieve their weight loss goals but also improve their constitution and enhance the functions of various systems within the body, reaching overall health balance. TCM weight loss emphasizes individualized treatment, adapting to each person’s conditions. By treating the root causes, the weight loss process becomes safe, scientific, and effective. Therefore, if you are troubled by obesity, consider trying TCM weight loss therapies under the guidance of a professional TCM physician. May everyone striving for health and beauty embrace a lighter and healthier self through the wisdom of TCM.