Chinese Weight Loss Methods: Holistic Tips for Women Over 40

Have you been struggling to lose weight and are seeking an alternative method to achieve your weight-loss goals? Then it's time to try Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

A holistic form of ancient medicine used for over 2000 years to treat physical and mental health issues, it can address the root cause of weight gain through herbal remedies and dietary adjustments to enhance metabolism and suppress appetite.

In this article, we explore the philosophy behind Chinese weight loss methods. We discuss the role of qi, nutrition, herbal remedies, acupuncture, and safety tips for effective weight loss.

The Philosophy Behind Chinese Weight Loss Methods

Traditional Chinese medicine has several principles and practices which can help you lose weight. Below, we discuss how to balance yin and yang, and the role of Qi has in weight loss and maintaining our health.

Balancing Yin and Yang for Health and Weight Management

Yin and Yang are fundamental concepts of opposing forces in the body and life. Regarding health and weight management, yin aspects such as rest, stillness, nourishment, and inward energy must be balanced with the elements of yang such as warmth, activity, movement, metabolism, and outward energy.

In the modern world, balance is often lost as stress, frustration, and busyness take over our lives, ultimately impacting our health, leading to weight gain, and illness. TCM uses yin and yang to identify these deficiencies these include:

Yin Deficiency:

• Signs: Overheating, night sweats, dry mouth, irritability, restlessness.
• Weight connection: You might have a fast metabolism but poor nourishment, leading to weight loss or nutrient imbalance.

Yang Deficiency:

• Signs: Cold hands/feet, fatigue, slow digestion, water retention, weight gain.
• Weight connection: Sluggish metabolism and low energy can lead to weight gain and difficulty burning fat.

TCM uses yin and yang to bring balance, ensuring weight loss is achieved safely, for long-term success.

The Role of Qi (Energy Flow) in Maintaining a Healthy Body

Qi is the vital energy that flows through the body along pathways called meridians. Sources indicate that Qi is like an electric current, it powers all bodily functions including digestion, movements, and protecting the body.

Qi can become unbalanced, due to deficiency, stagnation, and excess, leading to symptoms such as muscle weakness, poor digestion, low motivation, irritability, mood swings, and bloating.

Research shows that Qi deficiency is one of the most common disorders in TCM affecting respiration, elimination of bodily waste, verbal performance, and complexion.

One area in particular that it commonly impacts is weight gain, and difficulty losing weight.

Maintaining a balanced Qi is essential for a healthy body. It can be supported naturally through foods such as oats, sweet potatoes, lentils, brown rice, chicken, dates, and goji berries. Lifestyle practices such as gentle yoga, Tai Chi, deep breathing, and rest, as well as therapies such as Acupuncture, cupping, moxibustion, and Tui Na massage.

Restoring and maintaining a strong Qi will lead to a healthy weight, good digestion, strong immune systems, a positive mood, and more energy.

Diet and Nutrition According to Traditional Chinese Medicine

Diet and nutrition are an essential component of TCM, used to maintain health and prevent illness by balancing Qi. Below, we discuss the key principles of nutrition according to TCM, including food therapy, balance, and treatment based on etiological (cause and origin) factors such as climate-, locality-, and individual-oriented.

Food as Medicine

In TCM, food is not only seen as just fuel but as medicine for preventing illness. The belief is that medicine might cause side effects, relying on food and a balanced diet to nourish and cure disease.

Here is a list of food groups and their purpose:

• Grains (Nourishment): Millet, sorghum, beans, wheat, rice, and beans maintain one’s life.
• Fruit (Assist): Apricots, chestnuts, peaches, other fruits, and nuts help balance the diet.
• Livestock (Benefit): Cattle, sheep, pigs, and chicken to make up for nutritional deficiencies that grains can’t provide.
• Vegetables (Supplement): leek, shallots, kwai, and allium supplement vital nutrients.

Balance and Harmony

Balance and harmony require alignment of yin and yang. As mentioned, when these opposing forces are unbalanced it can lead to illness. Sources show that excessive yin causes yang disease, and excessive yang causes yin disease.

Identifying the yin-yang imbalance is required before it can be addressed. If you have excessive yang (associated with heat), TCM recommends consuming yin foods (associated with cold).

Below is an example of yin and yang foods:

• Yin Foods (Cooling and Moist): Watermelon, banana, apples, grapes, pears, cucumber, mushroom, spinach, kale, broccoli, cabbage, oats, rice, yogurt, milk, soy
• Yang Foods (Warm and Dry): Red meat, garlic, ginger, spices, whole grains, honey, and vinegar

Sources indicate that when dealing with cold syndrome from excessive yin cold, it can be treated with hot herbs such as dry ginger, cinnamon, and fennel to make porridge or soup too cold (yin). Alternatively, if you are experiencing excessive heat, foods such as cooling tea, yogurt, apple, coconut water, and watermelon can be used to restore balance.

Climate-oriented

Climate-oriented approach refers to adjusting your diet to different climates, grading the four seasons as cold, hot, warm, and cool. Below are examples of each season.

• Summer: Eat cooling foods such as watermelon, cucumber, and cooling teas to counteract the heat and dryness
• Autumn: Moistening the body and nourishing lunges with food such as pears, apples, figs, and pumpkins to generate fluids and moisten the lungs to protect against dryness.
• Winter: Protect the body from cold and nourish the kidneys with warming foods such as beef, lamb, eggs, and root vegetables to conserve energy during winter.
• Spring: Cleanse the liver with bitter flavor leafy greens, and sour fruits to support digestion and Qi movement.

Locality

Traditional Chinese medicine also uses locality to determine the types of foods we need to consume. Here, it is believed that certain foods should be consumed based on the region you live in, with factors such as climate, natural environment, and living habits can influence the body’s physiology and pathological changes.

For example, if you live in a cooler climate, pungent, warming, and nourishing foods such as roasted root vegetables, warm grains, and warming spices. Meanwhile, in cooler climates, heat-clearing foods such as watermelon, cucumber, and mung bean should be consumed.

Individual-oriented

Individual-oriented refers to treatment by choosing foods or medicine based on age gender, lifestyle, and constitution.

Below are examples of how TCM treats each component:

Constitution

• Yang: Deficits require warm foods such as mutton porridge
• Yin: Deficits need nourishing food such as tremella soup, radix ophiopogonis porridge

Age

• Children: Yang can be excessive and Yin is often deficient. Here invigorators such as red meat, ginger, garlic, and cinnamon should avoided. Focus on giving heat-clearing, cooling foods.
• Older Adults: Visceral function gradually weakens limiting blood and qi flow. This causes illness due to a lack of nutrients. The solution here is to restore invigorators.

Herbal Remedies for Weight Loss

Traditional Chinese medicine uses several herbal remedies to enhance weight loss. Below, we discuss the different Chinese herbs and how they can be used to boost metabolism, suppress appetite, and burn fat.

Chinese Herbs That Support Weight Loss

Several Chinese herbs are used to support weight loss by enhancing metabolism, improving fat breakdown, and reducing water retention.

Below is a list of herbs and their function

• Huang Qi (Astragalus Membranaceus) — Sources suggest may boost fat metabolism and enhance fat breakdown while supporting gut health, reducing inflammation, helping with weight loss.
• Fu Ling (Poria Cocos) — A natural diuretic which research shows helps reduce water retention and bloating while supporting gut the microbiome and maintaining metabolic balance.
• Shan Zha (Hawthorn Berry) — Supports fat metabolism after fatty meals with evidence suggesting it may contribute to lowering blood lipids and improving digestion.
• He Ye (Lotus Leaf) — Studies show that it contains fat-burning and anti-obesity properties, with the potential to suppress appetite and boost lipid metabolism.
• Ze Xie (Alisma Orientale) — Research shows is a natural diuretic and lipid-lowering herb, improving metabolism and preventing fatty liver.
• Da Huang (Rhubarb Root) — Studies show contains a compound that can stimulate bowel movements to relieve constipation, help with detoxification, and suppress appetite.

Benefits of Green Tea and Pu-Erh Tea for Fat Burning

Traditional Chinese medicine has been using tea for over 2000 years for its health-enhancing benefits. Green tea and pu-erh tea are two which are known for their capacity to support weight loss.

Sources show that high-dose green tea extract leads to significant weight loss, and reduced waist and circumference. Meanwhile, additional studies indicate that green tea can suppress appetite and increase thermogenesis, burning calories to produce heat, and increasing fat oxidation.

Pur-erh on the other hand is post-fermented tea which is shown to possess anti-inflammatory and anti-obesity properties, including fat tissue breakdown. Combined, these prove to be excellent tools for burning fat.

Acupuncture for Weight Loss

Acupuncture like all TCM has been used for over 2000 years, however, research surrounding how effective it is remains inconclusive, with studies highlighting benefits while others found no concrete evidence.

For example, a 2015 study found that acupuncture in combination with diet restriction was effective for weight loss. While additional sources show it is somewhat effective for supporting weight loss, improving insulin responsiveness, and preventing insulin resistance in obese patients.

However, other studies reveal that while studies show potential benefits, factors such as small sample sizes, and short follow-up periods highlight their limitations.

The Role of Qigong in Weight Loss

Qigong is a TCM mind-body practice developed over 5000 years ago. Studies show it is used to promote health, and well-being, and improve medical conditions using physical activity and meditation.

Sources show that 12-week qigong and aerobic program. Qigong training was performed using slow whole-body performance with natural breathing, performed in lying, special postures, and motion in standing positions. They found that 12 weeks was sufficient for improving physical function and body fat reduction.

Additional sources examined the effectiveness of qigong on weight loss, discovering it was associated with improvements in weight, waist circumference, and insulin resistance.

Modern Applications of Chinese Weight Loss Methods

Traditional Chinese medicine shares similar principles to modern science, exercise, and nutrition. However, their differences can make it difficult to know how to integrate the two. Below, we discuss how to combine the two for effective weight loss.

Integrating TCM with Modern Fitness and Diet Plans

The biggest component of weight loss in the Western world is a calorie deficit. This is when we consume fewer calories than our body burns at rest, leading to weight and fat loss.

This can be combined with the TCM practice of balancing yin and yang to not only harmonize and balance the body but also maintain a deficit for weight loss. Regarding exercise, TCM qigong and tai chi can be performed alongside resistance and cardio training. This will ensure the body is developing strength, and cardiorespiratory fitness while developing physical control and mindfulness.

Technology-Enhanced Acupuncture and Herbal Therapies

Technology is now being used in TCM to enhance treatment for acupuncture and herbal therapies.

Sources indicate it can be used in acupoint selection and acupuncture education. For example, acupuncture manipulation is a technique of determining the angle, depth, and degree of stimulation. Here AI technology is used to improve manipulation, consistency, and precision.

Meanwhile,  technology is being used to enhance produce quality and safety of herbal therapies. Research explains that processing parameters including temperature, pressure, pH, mixing time, and drying conditions are monitored and controlled to improve quality.

For example, temperature control impacts chemical reactions and microbial growth. Meanwhile, pressure affects reaction rate, solubility, and efficiency.

Tips for Safely Incorporating Chinese Methods into Your Routine

Incorporating TCM contains many nuances which can make it difficult to implement without correct guidance. Below, we explain how to safely incorporate it into your routine.

Consulting a Qualified TCM Practitioner

If you are interested in TCM for weight loss we strongly recommend seeking guidance from a qualified TCM practitioner.

TCM practitioners have extensive training (4-year degree, 2-year Master’s program, and apprenticeship) to understand the complexities of the ancient modality. This knowledge will provide a specialized understanding of the entire body.

They will be able to not only tell you exactly how to lose weight with TCM but also how you can achieve weight loss safely while enhancing your overall health and well-being.

Avoiding Overuse of Herbs or Teas

Herbs and teas are a vital component of TCM, however, when they are over overconsumed it can lead to digestive issues, allergic reactions, and potential harm to the liver and kidneys.

Seeking the guidance of TCM practitioners will also ensure you are not overusing herbs and teas. This will ensure you are getting the benefits without sacrificing your health.

Combining Traditional Methods with a Healthy Lifestyle

Traditional Chinese medicine has incredible philosophies and treatments that can enhance all facets of our lives. When it is combined with an overall healthy lifestyle it can be transformative for weight loss, and our physical and mental health.

We recommend consulting your TCM practitioner on how their practices can be combined with exercise and nutrition to improve weight loss.

Recap: Exploring Chinese Methods for Sustainable Weight Loss

Traditional Chinese medicine method utilizes a combination of methods to safely achieve sustainable weight loss. However, due to its complexities, its methods should be performed with the guidance of a qualified TCM practitioner.

The Benefits of a Balanced and Holistic Approach

When it comes to weight loss we are conditioned to focus solely on dropping weight, which comes at the expense of our health and well-being. Between skipping meals, cutting food groups, and nutrient deficiencies, it becomes unsustainable, leading to weight regain.

Traditional Chinese medicine takes a balanced and holistic approach to weight loss, which ensures you are successfully losing weight while optimizing your health.

By following the TCM principles of balance, harmony, and diet and exercise practices, we can maintain a healthy balance for long-term health.

Encouraging Wellness Through TCM Practices

Traditional Chinese medicine principles teach the interconnectedness of all areas of our health and life. While many initially approach it with weight loss in mind, it's not long before practices such as balancing yin and yang enrich other aspects of their life.

After enough time, TCM can shift the way we view our body and interactions, completely changing our perspective of overall health. Before long, those weight loss-related skills become second nature, becoming second nature practices that guide us to long-term wellness.

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