Healthy Weight Management with Traditional Chinese Medicine
Losing weight is challenging for most people. Even if you eat well and exercise regularly, you might wonder why the scale isn't showing the expected results.
Stubborn weight gain and the inability to lose weight are complex conditions, not merely the result of "eating too much" or "lack of exercise" alone. Some underlying issues might need to be addressed, such as insulin resistance, hormone imbalances, chronic digestive problems, stress, sleep deprivation, and other hidden factors that can make losing weight feel like an uphill battle, no matter how hard you try.
When the body's metabolism becomes disturbed with underlying issues, this can lead to high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, and excessive abdominal fat. If left untreated, these metabolic syndromes can increase the risk of stroke, heart disease, and diabetes. Therefore, the optimal goal for healthy weight management is not lowering the number on the scale but becoming healthy.
Keeping blood sugar levels in check to avoid large spikes and dips is essential for weight loss and overall health. When consuming too much sugar, your body will need more insulin to break down all the sugar. After some time, the pancreas will be unable to keep up with the production. It may cause insulin resistance, prediabetes, Type 2 diabetes, some heart-related issues, kidney problems, problems with eyesight, and nerve issues like neuropathy, where you lose feeling in your fingers and toes.
Nutrition Tips for Healthy Weight Loss
Fiber
Eat plenty of fiber in less processed grains, veggies, mushrooms, and sea vegetables. The extra fiber slows digestion, helps you avoid sugar spikes, and makes you feel fuller for longer.
Retrograde starch
Eat carbs that have been refrigerated for over four hours after cooking. This retrograde starch is not digested and goes to the large intestine to be food for the good bacteria. Reheating will not destroy the retrograde starch.
Enjoy fruit in moderation
Due to high sugar in nature, limited berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries) to one serving daily.
Seek Protein-rich Food
Protein is a crucial nutrient for weight loss. It helps you feel fuller for longer and preserves your resting energy expenditure (REE), partly due to its effects on appetite-regulating hormones, such as ghrelin.
Add Fish to your Diet
Omega 3 in fish or supplements helps improve leptin sensitivity, essential to control appetite and fat regulation.
Eat fermented foods or probiotics
Fermented foods are an outstanding source of probiotics and boast a low glycemic index. They stabilize blood sugar levels, reduce cravings for high-sugar foods, and effectively regulate your appetite. Furthermore, their high-fiber content keeps you satiated and prevents overeating, making them a powerful addition to any healthy diet.
TCM Treatments for Weight Loss and Underlying Issues
At Tao of Wellness, your doctors will review your medical history and create a personalized treatment plan to address the underlying issue causing weight gain. This plan may include Tuina bodywork (lymphatic drainage massage or cellulite reduction), herbal therapy, qi gong/tai chi, and acupuncture treatments to help maintain balance in the body, sustain natural blood flow and circulation, strengthen the digestive system, and increase metabolism. It also facilitates the quick release of neurotransmitters in the body, which may improve mood, reduce stress and depression, and ultimately help control food intake.
Acupuncture treatments with electrostimulation increase energy activities in the targeted fatty body areas, such as the abdomen, hips, thighs, and arms, to reduce cellulite.
Auricular acupuncture (acupuncture treatments on the ear) works by manipulating specific points on the ear that control food cravings. This effectively causes changes in active levels of ghrelin, a hormone produced in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract that can increase hunger.
Herbal therapy for weight loss may include a time-tested protocol involving berberine, an extract from the Chinese herb Coptidis that stabilizes blood sugar and naturally affects your GLP-1 hormones and receptors to calm your appetite and reduce gas formation1 and bloating, DIM (Diindolylmethane), a nutrient from broccoli that eliminates the bad estrogen from your belly, therefore decreasing body fat especially in premenopausal women2, and carnitine, an amino acid that is involved in fat metabolism and energy production that has been shown in studies to help subjects lose significant amount of weight3.
Your practitioner at the Tao of Wellness may also customize an herbal formula comprising 12-15 herbs for your specific health needs, helping you optimize your metabolism and achieve your weight wellness goals.
This summer, take a different approach to losing weight—for good. Rather than following the latest fad diet or resorting to restrictive eating and strenuous workouts, reset your body balance and metabolism with the wisdom of Traditional Chinese medicine. We invite you to consult with our practitioners at Tao of Wellness, who can evaluate your goals and recommend proper treatment and lifestyle changes.