🌿 Folk Prescriptions

With summer arriving, those unhappy with their weight can’t sit still anymore—more people are turning to acupuncture for weight loss. Ms. Zhang is currently in her second treatment cycle. She finds acupuncture weight loss the most effective method among all she’s tried, especially because she doesn’t need to restrict her diet. When the doctor inserted tiny silver needles into her forearm, she couldn’t help but exclaim, “It’s so tingly!” Tingling, numbness, heaviness, and distension are normal sensations during acupuncture, indicating stimulation of acupoints.
Associate Professor Lin Guohua from the Acupuncture Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine said acupuncture isn’t exclusive to summer, but summer offers the best timing for weight loss treatments. Acupuncture primarily regulates the spleen and stomach, both central to metabolism. Obese individuals usually have phlegm-dampness constitutions. Summer is ideal for warming the spleen and kidneys’ yang energy—this is known as “harmony between man and nature.” With external yang energy abundant in summer, adjusting bodily imbalances is more effective than in colder seasons. Moreover, heat promotes metabolism, and combined with acupuncture, it aids in eliminating phlegm and dampness, improving obesity at the constitutional level.
Best for Simple Generalized or Abdominal Obesity
1. Individuals with generalized obesity or localized abdominal fat. Since the abdomen lies along the spleen and stomach meridians, acupuncture targeting these areas yields the most noticeable abdominal slimming results.
2. Those with simple obesity.
Obesity is categorized into simple and secondary types. Simple obesity results purely from excessive intake and insufficient metabolism, and can be effectively treated with acupuncture. Secondary obesity stems from underlying diseases; acupuncture alone is ineffective or only temporarily helpful. True weight loss requires treating the root disease first.
3. Individuals with abundant soft fat deposits, especially in those areas.
Compared to hard fat, acupuncture is more effective for reducing soft fat. The hardness of fat can be determined by touch. Doctors note that hard fat accumulates from childhood, indicating a large number of fat cells. Acupuncture cannot reduce cell count, so it has little effect on such fat. Soft fat consists of enlarged individual fat cells, making it highly responsive to acupuncture treatment—results appear faster and more pronounced.