How to lose weight with acupuncture

Yes you can lose weight With the’acupuncture? And can it control nervous hunger? The answer is yes, in both cases. Dr. says so Gabriel PiuriSurgeon, Specialist in Food Science and advisor of the Italian Society of Acupuncture (SIA), in his new book **Acupuncture Handbook – Traditional Chinese Medicine for Everyone **(Edizioni Lswr), where he illustrates how acupuncture can offer possibilities for treatment and prevention against: metabolic, musculoskeletal, neurological, psychiatric, gynecological, obstetric, urological, andrological, abdominal, dermatological, cardiological, up to seasonal ailments and to small everyday “emergencies”.

But let’s start with the basics: what is acupuncture?
“Acupuncture is one thousand-year-old traditional Chinese medicine techniquewhich consists of inserting needles for about twenty minutes in one of the 365 specific points of the bodyFor rebalanceaccording to tradition, the body’s energies. In Italy this technique can be only performed by a doctor and by no other health figure.

Today, therefore, does the Western scientific community recognize the validity of this technique?
«Acupuncture, until a few years ago, was considered exclusively for yours validity in pain control. But today Western scientific research has understood how useful it is within a integrated treatment path to combat overweight and obesity. And I would like to underline the word “integrated”: acupuncture alone is not enough to achieve weight reduction, but inserted into a path that also includes a change in lifestyle – both in terms of food and physical activity – allows you to achieve better results in a shorter time.

It has been proven that acupuncture can help reduce inflammation involving certain chronic diseases. For example, a 2016 study, published in Nutrition & Diabetesdemonstrated as a group of diabetic patientsalready followed with a path of pharmacological and nutritional therapy, subjected to acupuncture, had a better response to treatment than what was not treated even with the Chinese medicine technique ».

So why could acupuncture help a weight loss journey?
«First of all, as already mentioned, for the anti-inflammatory effect, but also why acupuncture improves insulin sensitivity and, therefore, helps to use sugars more efficiently, it helps to positively modulate the intestinal microbiota altered from a diet too rich in fats and sugars and carries out an epigenetic regulation action, modifying the expression of obesogenic genes to the advantage of a leaner phenotype».

What is the acupuncture point that is most frequently touched with needles to stimulate weight loss?
“Is called Tianshu (Celestial Pin) and is the twenty-fifth point of the Stomach meridianand is located at one four fingers apart, to the right or left of the navel. You can also proceed manually: in the morning or in the evening, lying down, with the thumb you can perform a massage in that point for a minute, so as to relax the muscle groups in depth. It is clear that a more precise and effective effect is obtained with the needle, but the energy can also be partly rebalanced with the fingers».

Why is it all about balance in this case too?
“Absolutely yes. For a person who wants to lose a few kilos, I advise against acupuncture, because it wouldn’t change anything about the result. The balance to be restored would be minimal and the technique would not have the desired effectiveness».

And with regard to nervous hunger, how can acupuncture help?
“We’re talking about here electroacupuncture, useful for modifying the perception of appetite, therefore for controlling nervous hunger. Several studies have demonstrated how electroacupuncture applied to specific points can effectively modulate the perception of appetite. The most recent is from 2022, when a research evaluated (in 46 obese subjects) the effect of electroacupuncture on the brain reward mechanisms associated with the sense of satiety. The stimulation of specific points, three times a week for eight weeks, led to a clear control of the sensation of appetite and a reduction in body weight, as well as the normalization of leptin levels. But in addition to the acupuncture sessions, I reiterate the importance of following a healthy diet, according to the basic rules».

What would they be?
“Let’s start with one hearty breakfast. What you eat within an hour of waking up is entirely transformed into energy, activates the metabolism and reduces the sense of appetite during the day.

Apart from this, it is necessary to correctly associate carbohydrates and proteins with all meals. This balance avoids the unfortunate situation of a sudden drop in blood sugar: when you eat only carbohydrates during a meal, blood sugar levels rise very rapidly, inducing a strong release of insulin from the pancreas.

L’insulin it is one of the hormones that control blood sugar and acts by reducing blood sugar levels: if it is released in excess, it has such a disruptive action as to bring blood sugar below normal, giving rise to what is called “reactive hypoglycemia ”.

When blood sugar is too low, we instinctively look for sources of sugar, and losing control over our diet is the first consequence. Otherwise, correctly balancing carbohydrates, proteins, fruit and vegetables at all meals significantly slows down the absorption of sugars and rebalances the release of insulin”.\

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