Chinese Medicine Helps Achieve a Healthy Weight
Traditional Chinese Medicine, dates back over 5000 years. Today, it is just as valid and useful in helping us achieve our health goals, and can help your journey towards a healthy weight.
There are many medical research studies into the efficacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine for a healthy weight, and especially in weight loss suggests that its approach can inhibit the production of body fat, improve intestinal peristalsis to increase bowel movement, boost blood circulation, and speed up the metabolism. Herbal medicine, Acupuncture and Tuina Acupressure each play a key role in this endeavour, but here are five things you can do on your own to support your weight loss efforts.
Eat more Bitter foods.
I recommend replacing sweet and starch foods with eating bitter foods. Bitter is one of the five flavours in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The Five are bitter, spicy/pungent, sweet, salty, and sour/astringent. It is one of the main flavours that help with weight loss because bitter tastes are difficult to overeat and help to purge the bowels, including flushing toxins from the body. Bitter flavours also increase digestive enzyme secretion, which improves our sense of satiety or feelings that we are full. Examples of bitter foods include cucumber, bitter melon, asparagus, and some lettuces.
Promote the Smooth Flow of your Qi daily
Qi is the life-force or energy that nourishes all life in Chinese theory. Our Qi can become stagnant or blocked in the body leading to ‘dampness’ or build ups or mucus or water retention. It is important to move Qi to clear stagnation and improve normal metabolic processes. Qi can be encouraged to flow freely with exercise. It’s not really important which exercise you do, as a 30-minute brisk walk moving the hands as well as the feet, will achieve the smooth flow of Qi in the body. Taichi, TaiQi, Qi Gong, Yoga and certain breath work can also help. Herbs can greatly improve the flow of Qi, as well as nourish certain body functions of metabolising food. Acupuncture can help also.
A Powerful Herbal Homeopathic Remedy
Chinese herbalists believe that extra weight is due to undigested food, retained fluids, and a stagnant metabolism. Homeopathic remedies are formulated from these precious herbs “Jian Mei Ling Qiao” to strengthen and nourish the digestive and elimination systems, while increasing metabolic efficiency. Metabolism and a Healthy Weight.
Balance your Water Consumption
Traditional Chinese Medicine advises to drink 1 litre of warm water early in the morning as it helps to prime the system, flush the bowels, and reawaken the metabolic processes. It further suggests to drink a further 3 litres of warm water over the rest of the day.
Traditional Chinese Medicine cautions against eating cold foods or drinking cold water, as it causes the digestive process to slow down, while your body uses vital energy to warm the food and water for metabolism, which can lead to stagnation.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is one of the go-to treatment that modern Chinese people have in order to obtain a Healthy Weight by balancing metabolism and eliminating excess residue in the body. Learn more about acupuncture here.
A Cleansing Detox.
Toxins are all around us – but did you know you can naturally cleanse your body through food? Practiced for centuries by cultures around the world — including Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine systems — cleansing and detoxification is about resting, cleansing and nourishing the body from the inside out. By removing and eliminating toxins, then feeding your body with healthy nutrients, detoxifying can help protect you from disease and renew your ability to maintain optimum health through a range of methods including yoga, meditation and more.
There are so many acupoints located on the body, and your therapist will advise you to stimulate certain points daily to improve digestion and promote the smooth flow of energy.
There is an area located on the tiny triangle (or diamond) of cartilage that’s in front of the entrance to the ear canal are two powerful points for reducing appetite. Pinch that bit of cartilage intermittently for 30-90 seconds starting about 10-20 minutes before meals, or whenever you feel uncharacteristically hungry to prevent overeating. You can pinch either or both ears.
Incorporate these principles into your healthy lifestyle and you’ll be well on your way to achieving your goal weight.
James O'Sullivan - that's me, a people friendly practitioner and lecturer of Integrated Medicine, serving my patients, my students and the public with the positive benefits of both Conventional Western Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine. It's a wonderful life
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to diagnose or assess. The information provided is not to be considered a substitute for consultation with a qualified health care practitioner.