Q: Can acupuncture help with weight lose?

A:  This question comes up relatively frequently, and one answer we gave was as follows:
 

Q. I am interested to know if acu will help with weight loss.

A. Weight loss was the subject of some critical scrutiny a decade ago, and the conclusion drawn at the time was that acupuncture did not have any significant effect on weight loss. However, trying to test whether acupuncture can help someone to reduce their weight is likely to be a difficult matter; there are dozens of reasons in Chinese medicine why someone's weight may be increasing. Trying to group together a sufficiently large number of patients whose western problem and eastern diagnosis are the same is extremely difficult.

In one or two cases there is a very direct correlation between someone's weight and their underlying imbalances from a Chinese medicine perspective. Correcting these may have an immediate impact on, say, the amount of fluid someone is carrying, and that could create a 3-5kg loss very quickly.

However, all of the best dietary programmes say that after the initial and often quite dramatic week or two most good weight loss programmes at best will see someone lose only a pound or two every month, and in fact, there is discouragement from trying to do more in order for the body's system to keep pace with the change. Acupuncture may well have been used successfully alongside some fairly strict dietary rules, and from a patient's perspective it would be very difficult to say whether the acupuncture treatment added value to what someone was doing already.

The bottom line is that there are are no 'magic' points which reduce someone's weight without effort, and the effect of acupuncture may be no more than to give someone the support and commitment to keep trying with diet and exercise programmes. However, if someone remains motivated as a consequence of acupuncturre treatment that itself would be a very positive outcome.

There is nothing that we would add to this advice other than to beware of anyone making promises they cannot keep about what acupuncture treatment can deliver. Some of the less reputable high street shops still appear to be making claims of a fairly speculative nature without any evidence which supports what they claim.

Weight loss was the subject of some critical scrutiny a decade ago, and the conclusion drawn at the time was that acupuncture did not have any significant effect on weight loss. However, trying to test whether acupuncture can help someone to reduce their weight is likely to be a difficult matter; there are dozens of reasons in Chinese medicine why someone's weight may be increasing. Trying to group together a sufficiently large number of patients whose western problem and eastern diagnosis are the same is extremely difficult.

In one or two cases there is a very direct correlation between someone's weight and their underlying imbalances from a Chinese medicine perspective. Correcting these may have an immediate impact on, say, the amount of fluid someone is carrying, and that could create a 3-5kg loss very quickly.

However, all of the best dietary programmes say that after the initial and often quite dramatic week or two most good weight loss programmes at best will see someone lose only a pound or two every month, and in fact, there is discouragement from trying to do more in order for the body's system to keep pace with the change. Acupuncture may well have been used successfully alongside some fairly strict dietary rules, and from a patient's perspective it would be very difficult to say whether the acupuncture treatment added value to what someone was doing already.

The bottom line is that there are are no 'magic' points which reduce someone's weight without effort, and the effect of acupuncture may be no more than to give someone the support and commitment to keep trying with diet and exercise programmes. However, if someone remains motivated as a consequence of acupuncturre treatment that itself would be a very positive outcome.

There are a number of experience practitioners in Lincoln, and you can find them all by clicking on the search button. Any of then will be able to advise you whether acupuncture might be worth pursuing in your individual case.

Q. Does acupuncture help with weight problems? Going through the menopause and the weight piling on.

A. The research evidence for acupuncture and weight loss is not good, but that is at least in part because weight gain can occur for a wide variety of reasons, and standardising treatment to test its value will almost certainly be a very hit and miss affair. Most people trying to lose weight are also not only doing several things besides seeking help from acupuncturists or other therapists, but told categorically by weight watching organisations that progress is likely to be slow and hard fought. Deciding what effects are down to treatment, to diet, to exercise or just luck is difficult.
 
There are a number of explanations within Chinese medicine which are offered for weight gain, and being menopausal may or may not be implicated in what is going on. Although we repeat all the time that Chinese medicine treats the person, not simply the condition, this is exactly one of those cases where the unique balance and constitution of the individual is the key to understanding whether acupuncture can indeed help. The most effective way to establish this is to seek a short consultation with a BAcC member to see whether acupuncture might be appropriate.