Start ‘pinning’ and meet the slimmer you
Acupuncture could help in losing that extra fat, says study
Trying to shed those extra kilos? You may want to add acupuncture to your weight loss plan as a recent study has suggested that it is effective. The School of Chinese Medicine (SCM) of Hong Kong Baptist University recently completed a clinical trial on the use of acupuncture for weight control.
After an eight-week treatment, the participants’ average body weight decreased by 2.47 kg, with a weight loss of 7.2 kg for the most successful participant, whose Body Mass Index (BMI) dropped by 3.2 kg/m2. The trial was initial testimony to the effectiveness of acupuncture for controlling the weight of adults.
The participants had a BMI of 25 or above but none of them had taken any other weight control measures or
any medication three months prior to the trial.
The participants were randomly assigned to two groups for the controlled trial: the “real acupuncture group” and the “sham acupuncture group.” Each participant underwent a total of 16 sessions of acupuncture treatment over eight weeks. The acupoints on the abdomen include Tianshu, Dahen, Daimai, Qihai, and Zhongwan while those on the lower limbs are Zusanli, Fenlong, and Sanyinjiao.
According to the Chinese medicine perspective, these
acupoints can restore and harmonise the flow of energy in the intestines as well as transform body fluid and expel phlegm.
Researcher Zhong Lidan said that acupuncture has a stimulating effect.
She explained that this trial provides preliminary evidence of the efficacy and safety of acupuncture on weight control in Hong Kong. It also offers a research basis for future large sample clinical trials and a guideline for developing acupuncture to counter obesity.