Obesity isn’t just an American problem. It is a worldwide issue, they call it globesity. Parodoxically, their comprehension of the problem began with their original mission to eliminate hunger and malnutrition. We live in a world where many have nothing to eat, and many eat too much. From 1995 to 2000, the amount of obese adults worldwide mushroomed from 200 million to 300 million. That’s a 50% increase in only 5 years!
What is Obesity, and What is Overweight?
Overweight means an excess of body weight. This excess weight may be muscle, bone, fat, or body water. Obesity refers specifically to an abnormally high proportion of body fat. You can be overweight without being obese – for example, a bodybuilder or other highly-muscled athlete.
But many men and women that are overweight are also obese. The main approach to ascertain whether you are overweight or obese is with the body mass index (BMI). It does not directly measure body fat, and it is not gender specific, but it does give you a pretty reliable estimation.
To find your BMI, divide your weight (in kilograms) by your height in meters squared. This will very quickly tell you if you’re normal, overweight, or obese, and it does all the calculating and metric conversions for you!
Overweight is defined as a BMI above 25 (including those above 30 BMI, too), and obese is a BMI above 30. So, all obese people are overweight, but not all overweight people are obese.
The Obesity Epidemic
Obesity is not just about not feeling good or having trouble getting dates… It contributes to greater than 300,000 premature deaths every year. 90,000 are preventable cancer deaths.
Severely obese men die 13 years earlier than men of normal weight. As a killer, obesity is second only to tobacco.
Acupuncture Weight Loss: Fantasy, or Fact?
As a fairly conservative Chinese medicine practitioner, I had assumed that acupuncture for weight loss was a marketing fad and a patient fantasy. But while researching I found some surprisingly positive information that changed my mind.
Chinese Medicine’s Collective Clinical Data
Chinese Medicine has thousands of years of clinical experience. This collective data not as convincing as randomized controlled trials are, but it does contain truth – it’s imperfect but still valid and important.
A research in the 80’s reasoned that 85% of western medicine is based on clinical experience, not on research. There is great Chinese Medicine study in Taiwan, Australia, and Europe that has ignored by scientists and media. Much study in Chinese hasn’t even been translated into English.
It works by improving the function of two neuroendocrine pathways that regulate many bodily processes, including metabolism.
What it does
- Decreases menopausal weight gain.
- Lowers body fat, body fat, insulin levels, and lipid levels in the blood.
- Decreases excessive appetite and makes it easier to satisfy your hunger with less food.
- In one study, acupuncture took off 10 pounds in 2 months – that translates to 60 pounds in a year!
- Combined with diet control, and aerobic counseling it not only takes off the pounds and body fat, but keeps them off, especially if you’re diligent with their exercise.
Ephedra misuse and mislegislation
Ephedra is a Chinese herb for colds and coughs. It has been misused to increase metabolism, and this misuse has caused a lot of deaths. As a result, is considering a complete ban on ephedra products. We can blame two major things:
- The idea that you can medicate yourself safely with herbs – self-medication of any kind is risky. Self-medication is off the radar, and people generally think they can do it securely. The ephedra debacle is an example of how dangerous it may be.
- Supplement companies that care more about your money than your health (no, not all of them are that way, but some of them are, especially those that market weight loss formulations).
Traditionally, Chinese herbs are given in formulas (not singly), which is safer and more personalized. They’re prescribed by a Chinese medicine practitioner who diagnoses your specific imbalances first. Ephedra would not be given for weight loss, but only for certain kinds of colds and coughs, and only to people whose body’s can handle it.
No traditional Chinese herbs should be outlawed without allowing Chinese medical professionals to continue to use them traditionally.
Food Cravings
Low Blood Sugar
Another vicious cycle happens when you can not digest complex carbs, so your blood glucose is low, so you eat simple carbs that raise your blood sugar which raises insulin, which lowers your blood sugar again, and your stuck eating donuts and feeling horrible.
Enzyme Deficiency
The foods you crave depending on your personal imbalances. Modern digestive science explains that when your body can not digest a food, you crave more of it, you are not getting everything you need from it. This result in a cycle of craving and overeating the exact food you can’t digest.
Solution
Enzymes and Chinese herbal formulas can help you digest your food and break both of these cycles. Weight can be lost safely if done slowly and naturally.
You can lose up to 2 pounds per week without gaining it back. That means you might lose 104 pounds this year and keep it off!
Positive change is like stretching a rubber band- if you stretch too far too fast, it breaks or snaps back on you. So prevent the temptation to take a simple solution like ephedra or citrus aurantium (both misused Chinese herbs), because you’ll gain the weight back, and you’re risking heart problems and stroke.
5 Things to Do To Lose Weight Within two Months
Develop a plan
Develop a plan and goals with your acupuncturist and aerobics instructor, make it realistic, and stick with it. If you mess up, do not beat yourself up, just get back on track when you can. Any progress is much better than none whatsoever.
Join a support team
There’s nothing like positive friends to encourage you and keep you on track. OA members say that this spiritual program of action has changed the way they relate to food.
Eat less, exercise more
Eat a low fat diet, and do not miss breakfast! Weigh yourself regularly, and exercise an hour every day. Start by walking a couple of minutes every day, or take the stairs at work. Don’t overdo it! Remember the rubber ring. In reality, you might choose to wear a rubber band on your wrist to remind yourself to make changes gradually. Get some aerobic exercise help- a public class, or private aerobic counseling.
Acupuncture Weight Loss
See an acupuncturist/chinese herbalist – Get acupuncture (once to three times per week) to SAFELY regulate your metabolism and hunger-satisfaction.
Your acupuncturist can also get you the herbs that will balance your digestion and cravings – and based on your own Chinese routine analysis, they can also give you personalized diet advice. Herbs and enzymes can eliminate your food cravings.
Avoid heavily marketed supplements
Instead, see a professional trained herbalist (acupuncturist) – it’s safer and more effective – my preference is a Chinese medicine practitioner, but a few very well-educated western herbalists are good too.
