Can fertility acupuncture support weight loss?
Weight gain is a complex, multi-factorial issue. Losing excess kilos can be challenging even when your diet is perfect and you get sufficient exercise. It can become close to impossible when facing the pressures of trying to conceive. Some of the less known factors contributing to weight gain include hormonal changes, certain medical conditions like PCOS and insulin resistance, hormonal changes, stress, and poor sleep.
Can fertility acupuncture support weight loss?
Acupuncture improves sleep, reduces stress and anxiety
Have you ever found yourself overeating after a poor night’s sleep? Congratulations. You understand how lack of sleep can make you overeat.
Furthermore, poor sleep disrupts hormones contributing to fat deposition around your vital organs—also known as visceral fat. When you are continuously sleep-deprived, over time, it will undermine your motivation to exercise.
Similarly, stress can also lead to overeating and weight gain. Further, it also disrupts hormones, which can contribute to fat deposition.
Acupuncture is great for stress eaters and insomniacs. It reduces stress and anxiety and improves sleep. Consequently, a rested mind gives you better control over what and how much you eat. In addition, acupuncture will help heal the harm caused by sleep deprivation.
Acupuncture reduces appetite
Acupuncture may regulate appetite through the brain center that controls satiety.
Additionally, it stimulates the auricular branch of the vagal nerve, raising your serotonin levels. This in turn:
- Increases the tone of the smooth muscle of the stomach suppressing appetite,
- enhances intestinal motility,
- helps to control stress, improves mood, and eases depression.
Acupuncture regulates weight controlling hormones
Acupuncture supports weight loss by modulating your hormone levels. Studies have shown that acupuncture increases beta-endorphins. These feel-good hormones optimise how you use energy during fasting or exercise, further promoting weight loss.
In one study overweight women, who came to regular acupuncture for three months, had healthier levels of leptin, hormone associated with weight control. Additionally, fasting blood glucose and insulin levels all improved.
To sum it up, acupuncture tackles weight gain through various aspects like hormone regulation, sleep, and stress reduction. Multiple studies have shown that acupuncture could be an effective tool in helping control weight. For an effective weight loss plan, we recommend a differentiated course of acupuncture, individualised nutrition advice, exercise regime, thyroid check-up, or referral to a dietitian.
