Many people eat, or over-eat, for emotional reasons. When you feel sad or depressed you might eat in an attempt to make yourself feel better. While this may satisfy your instant gratification needs, it’s only very temporary and often times, instead of feeling better, you end up feeling frustrated and unhappy. This can become a vicious cycle that eventually leads to weight gain.
How Acupuncture Can Help
Acupuncture works on all levels involved with losing weight. The physical, emotional, and mental aspects can be addressed all at once. Acupuncture naturally releases chemicals in the body called endorphins. These are the same chemicals released after intense exercise or when you’re in love. These are often referred to as the “feel good” chemicals. Acupuncture has a relaxing, calming effect that makes it easier to deal with the frustration and anxiety that can trigger overeating and bingeing on unhealthy foods. These endorphins affect the digestive and hormonal systems to help rebalance the metabolism.
Acupuncture helps to do the following:
- Reduce hunger and food cravings so you can lose weight.
- Increase the efficiency of the digestive system and increase metabolism.
- Decrease the frustration and anxiety that triggers overeating.
In conjunction with acupuncture, herbs may be used to carry out the same effects in between treatments. Herbal formulas are given based on each individual’s particular needs. There are herbal formulas to increase the efficiency of digestion and metabolism. Other herbal formulas help diminish cravings and hunger. If weight gain is attributed to stress, there are herbal formulas used to calm anxiety and stress.
In addition to acupuncture and herbs, diet modification is almost always necessary. Since we really do become what we eat, it’s imperative to make sure we are eating properly, and avoiding foods that hinder weight loss or interfere with good health. If our internal organs aren’t healthy from eating improperly, our metabolism won’t function as well, and hormones become imbalanced which can also lead to weight gain. Adrenals that crash due to stress and high caffeine intake are also going to make it difficult to lose weight. Too much sugar in the diet will lead to insulin problems making weight gain almost inevitable. All organ systems play a role in our ability to maintain a healthy weight so diet modification is a must. Slowly adopting healthier eating habits will help guarantee the success of long term weight loss.