Acupuncture Weight Loss With 5 Step Plan
By Brian B. Carter, MS, LAc, Thu Dec 8th

I remember back in my senior year of high school - my bestfriend since 5th grade was living in France. He wrote that theydidn't like Americans much. "They think we're all fat," he said.With his own skinny frame, of course, he confounded theirbelief. But, he added a funny, or perhaps ironic capstone to theissue. "I went to a store, and they were selling statues ofthese fat people, and, at the base of each one was written,'American.'"

Obesity is not only an American problem. According to the WorldHealth Organization (WHO), it's a global problem. They call itglobesity. Parodoxically, their understanding of this problembegan with their original mission to eliminate hunger andmalnutrition. We live in a world where many have nothing to eat,and many eat too much. From 1995 to 2000, the number of obeseadults worldwide mushroomed from 200 million to 300 million.That's a 50% increase in just 5 years!

What is Obesity, and What is Overweight? Overweight means anexcess of body weight. This excess weight may be muscle, bone,fat, and/or body water. Obesity refers specifically to anabnormally high proportion of body fat. You can be overweightwithout being obese - for example, a bodybuilder or otherhighly-muscled athlete. But many people who are overweight arealso obese.The main way to determine whether you are overweightor obese is with the body mass index (BMI). It doesn't directlymeasure body fat, and it's not gender specific, but it does giveyou a pretty reliable estimation.

To find your BMI, divide your weight (in kilograms) by yourheight in meters squared. Yep, for the math-challenged, that'scomplex, so I'll give you a website that will figure it out foryou, the National Institute's of Health BMI calculator(http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/). This will very quickly tellyou if you are normal, overweight, or obese, and it does all thecalculating and metric conversions for you!

Overweight is defined as a BMI above 25 (including those above30 BMI, too), and obese is a BMI above 30. So, all obese peopleare overweight, but not all overweight people are obese.

The Obesity Epidemic Obesity isn't just about not feeling goodor having trouble getting dates…

It leads to more than 300,000 premature deaths each year in theUnited States. 90,000 are preventable cancer deaths. (CDC)

Severely obese men die 13 years sooner than men of normal weight(JAMA). As a killer in America, obesity is second only totobacco. (CDC)

The Weight Loss Industry

Spending: Americans spend between $40-50 billion per year tolose weight. Results: I haven't seen any recent news thatAmericans are getting any thinner - have you?

Conclusion: What people are doing isn't working. If we wantdifferent results, we have to try a different solution.

Acupuncture Weight Loss: Fantasy, or Fact?

Fantasy or Fact? As a well-trained and fairly conservativeChinese medicine practitioner, I had assumed that acupuncturefor weight loss was a marketing fad and a patient fantasy.Evidence: But while researching my upcoming book ChineseMedicine: A Practical Guide to Optimal Healing, I found somesurprisingly positive information that changed my mind. ChineseMedicine's Collective Clinical Data on Acupuncture Weight LossChinese Medicine has thousands of years of clinical experience.This collective data not as convincing as randomized controlledtrials are, but it does contain truth - it's imperfect but stillvalid and important.

A U.S. government study in the 80's concluded that 85% ofwestern medicine is based on clinical experience, not onresearch. (Office of Technology Assessment of the Congress ofthe United States, The Impact of Randomized Controlled Trials onHealth Policy and Medical Practice, Background PaperOTA-BP-H-22. Also see Michael Millenson's book, DemandingMedical Excellence)

There is good Chinese Medicine research in Taiwan, Australia,and Europe that gets ignored by American scientists and media.Much research in Chinese has not even been translated intoEnglish.

Seven Studies of Acupuncture for Weight Loss

How it works: By enhancing the function of two neuroendocrinepathways that regulate many bodily processes, includingmetabolism.

What it does:

* Lowers body weight, body fat, insulin levels, and lipid levelsin the blood * Decreases excessive appetite and makes it easierto satisfy your hunger with less food. * Decreases menopausalweight gain In one study, acupuncture took off 10 pounds in 2months - that translates to 60 lbs in a year! * Combined withdiet control, and aerobic counseling it not only takes off thepounds and body fat, but keeps them off, especially if you'rediligent with their exercise. (See references at end of articlefor the research)

Ephedra misuse and mislegislation

Ephedra is a Chinese herb for colds and coughs. It has beenmisused to increase metabolism, and this misuse has causednumerous deaths. As a result, the FDA is considering a total banon ephedra products. We can blame two major things:

Supplement companies that care more about your money than yourhealth (no, not all of them are that way, but some of them are,especially the ones that market weight loss formulations). Theidea that you can medicate yourself safely with herbs -self-medication of any kind

is risky. Self-medication with herbsis off the radar, and people generally think they can do itsafely. The ephedra debacle is an example of how dangerous itcan be.

Traditionally, Chinese herbs are given in formulas (not singly),which is safer and more personalized. They're prescribed by aChinese medicine practitioner who diagnoses your specificimbalances first. Ephedra would never be given for weight loss,but only for certain kinds of colds and coughs, and only topeople whose body's can handle it.

No traditional Chinese herbs should be outlawed without allowingChinese medical practitioners to continue to use themtraditionally.

Food Cravings

Problem #1 (Enzyme Deficiency): The foods you crave depending onyour personal imbalances. Modern digestive science explains thatwhen your body can't digest a food, you crave more of it -you're not getting what you need from it. This lead to a cycleof craving and overeating the exact food you can't digest.

Problem #2 (Low Blood Sugar): Another vicious cycle happens whenyou can't digest complex carbs, so your blood sugar is low, soyou eat simple carbs that raise your blood sugar which raisesinsulin, which lowers your blood sugar again, and your stuckeating donuts and feeling horrible. Solution: Enzymes (Irecommend various enzyme formulations from a company calledTransformations) and Chinese herbal formulas can help you digestyour food and break both of these cycles

Weight can be lost safely if done slowly and naturally. You canlose up to 2 lbs per week without gaining it back. That meansyou could lose 104 lbs this year and keep it off!

Positive change is like stretching a rubber band- if you stretchtoo far too fast, it breaks or snaps back on you.

So avoid the temptation to take an easy solution like ephedra orcitrus aurantium (both misused Chinese herbs), because you'llgain the weight back, and you're risking heart problems andstroke.

5 Things to Do Right Now To Lose 10 Pounds Within 2 Months AndKeep Them Off:

1. Avoid heavily marketed supplements - instead, see aprofessional trained herbalist (acupuncturist) - it's safer andmore effective - my preference would be a Chinese medicinepractitioner, but some very well-educated western herbalists aregood too. 2. Acupuncture Weight Loss: See anacupuncturist/chinese herbalist - Get acupuncture (once to threetimes per week) to SAFELY regulate your metabolism andhunger-satisfaction. Your acupuncturist can also get you theherbs that will balance your digestion and cravings - and basedon your Chinese pattern diagnosis, they can also give youpersonalized diet advice. Herbs and enzymes (specificformulations from the enzyme company, Transformations) caneliminate your food cravings. 3. Develop a plan and goals withyour acupuncturist and aerobics instructor- make it realistic,and stick to it. If you mess up, don't beat yourself up, justget back on track as soon as you can. Any progress is betterthan none at all. 4. Eat less, exercise more - Eat a low fatdiet, and don't miss breakfast! Weigh yourself regularly, andexercise an hour a day. Start by walking a few minutes each day,or take the stairs at work. Don't overdo it! Remember the rubberband. In fact, you may want to wear a rubber band on your wristto remind yourself to make changes slowly. Get some aerobicexercise help- a public class, or private aerobic counseling. 5.Join a support group like Weight Watchers or OvereatersAnonymous. There's nothing like positive friends to encourageyou and keep you on track. OA members say that this spiritualprogram of action has changed the way they relate to food.References and Resources

Office of Technology Assessment of the Congress of the UnitedStates, The Impact of Randomized Controlled Trials on HealthPolicy and Medical Practice, Background Paper OTA-BP-H-22.Michael Millenson's book, Demanding Medical Excellence Effect ofacupuncture on weight loss evaluated by adrenal function.Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1993 Sep, 13(3):169-73.Wozniak, P., Oszukowski, P., Stachowiak, G., and Szyllo, K. [Theeffectiveness of low-calorie diet or diet with acupuncturetreatment in obese peri- and postmenopausal women] (in Polish).Ginekol.Pol. Vol.74 Issue 2 pp. 102-107. 2003 Acupuncture onSpleen, Stomach, and Ren Mai Channel Points for the Treatment ofStomach & Intestinal Replete Heat Pattern Simple Obesity.Abstracted & translated by Bob Flaws, Dipl. Ac. & C.H, Lic. Ac.,FNAAOM, FRCHM Richards D, Marley J. Stimulation of auricularacupuncture points in weight loss. Aust Fam Physician. 1998Jul;27 Suppl 2:S73-7. Zhao, M., Liu, Z., and Su, J. Thetime-effect relationship of central action in acupuncturetreatment for weight reduction. J Tradit Chin Med Vol.20 Issue 1pp. 26-29. 2000 Liu, Z. Mechanisms underlying the effects ofacupuncture moxibustion on simple obesity complicated byhypertension. Inter J Clin Acup 371-378, 1995. Studies of theWeight Loss Industry Obesity prevalence and effect OvereatersAnonymous

About the author:Acupuncturist, herbalist, and medical professor Brian B. Carterfounded the alternative health megasite The Pulse of OrientalMedicine (http://www.PulseMed.org/). He is the author of thebook "Powerful Body, Peaceful Mind: How to Heal Yourself withFoods, Herbs, and Acupressure" (November, 2004). Brian speaks onradio across the country, and has been quoted and interviewed byReal Simple, Glamour, and ESPN magazines.