Acupuncture has been used in Chinese and Eastern medicine as a complementary therapy for many hundreds of years. It is based on the idea that the body’s qi (life energy) flows through the body through channels called meridians.
When these channels are blocked, illness and pain appear in the body. Acupuncture involves inserting extra fine needles into parts of the body to unblock the meridian, allowing the qi to flow in. Acupuncture has gained popularity within western societies since the 1960s and has been used to complement conventional medical practices.
In recent years, there has been an increase in the use of auricular acupuncture to help aid weight loss. This involves needles being inserted into the outer ear, this part of the body is used because it is believed that they outer ear represents the entire body, so stimulating key points with needles and magnets inserted or placed around it would help to suppress the appetite and stimulate the metabolism.
The use of auricular acupuncture for weight loss has since become a hotly contested topic, with research findings coming out for and against its use.
This leads onto the big question; can acupuncture aid weight loss?
Researchers at Kyung Hee University in Seoul tested 91 overweight adults split in to three groups. All were put on strict diets, with group one given five point acupuncture, group two had a one point insertion administered, focusing on the “hunger point” in the ear (one that is meant to suppress appetite), with group three being given a placebo treatment.
The study had a high attrition rate, with almost a third of participants dropping out before the end of the study (15 of which were in the placebo group); this was explained by the imposition of the strict dietary regime and that fact that the placebo group found it more difficult to regulate their hunger. The research found there was evidence that the use of both the five point and single point acupuncture increased the chances of weight loss in participants, with a 6 percent and 5.7 drop in body mass index (BMI) respectively.
Although there has been research and plenty of anecdotal evidence that supports acupuncture as a weight loss tool, as to be expected it is not without its critics. Some leading doctors have dismissed acupuncture as just another placebo effect.
With others finding the research falls short of actual proof. One study compared two groups of obese women, one having had genuine auricular acupuncture, with the other given a sham version.
The research found no difference between the two groups at all in terms of weight loss.
Other studies have also found that there has been no difference between groups when one is exposed to auricular acupuncture, leading to many having doubts about its efficacy.
Even organizations you would expect to be vocal in support have been slow to shout from the rooftops about auricular acupuncture fat busting potential. The British Acupuncture Council argue that reasons for weight gain in the western world do not necessarily fit with the ideas around body imbalances from an eastern perspective, and if acupuncture can work it is certainly no quick fix.
They warn against dramatic weight loss where the body would struggle to keep pace with the change. They found that the acupuncture could be used more as a support whilst an individual perseveres with more traditional ideas around diet and exercise.
They found that if it can be used to encourage commitment and motivation, that the end result would be beneficial, whether as a direct result of the acupuncture or not.
So, in terms of whether auricular acupuncture can help weight loss? It is safe to say the jury is out on that one. The fact that there has been mixed results in the research would mean the idea needs to be treated with caution.
However, that is not to say that it is not beneficial, just that maybe it’s use needs to be as a therapy alongside more traditional weight loss techniques, especially exercise. The fact remains that more research needs to conducted for the idea to gain traction among more traditional medical practitioners, and that the results need to be clearer for there to be a definitive answer.
