Freedom From Cravings

A key factor to strong health is good nutrition – yet many of us struggle to break unhealthy eating habits that pull us away from a balanced diet.  What drives a person to overeat or crave a particular food can be related to imbalances in our metabolism.  In reality, we each respond differently to particular foods – some crave ice cream, chocolate or sweets, others salty chips, or fatty meats.

Anyone, from athletes to invalids, can reduce cravings and binge-eating if you bring your metabolism into balance. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) which includes Acupuncture, employs a remarkable system of pattern diagnosis that enables a trained professional to understand differences in your particular constitution, or physiological patterns.  Once you are properly diagnosed, the practitioner can apply a series of treatments that will balance your particular physiology and strengthen your digestive system which will in turn, help your metabolism and appetite while eliminating unhealthy food cravings or patterns of over-eating.

People are always looking for the next solution or the latest phenomena in hopes of achieving their dietary goals, but TCM has many advantages that offer long-lasting benefit:

• Good Digestion: Over time, irregular eating habits take their toll on digestion.  Symptoms like gas, bloating, heartburn, constipation or diarrhea are all signs that the digestive system is out-of-balance.  Once these symptoms are eliminated and proper digestion resumes, then your body can get the proper nutrients from food so you feel less hungry.
• Relaxation: feeling at-ease and calm is one of the leading affects of Acupuncture. Research has proven that Acupuncture naturally releases endorphins that calm and relax the body – this is the singular most important strategy in dealing with stress, anxiety and frustration which all trigger emotional eating, overeating and bingeing on fattening foods.
• Eliminate Cravings: Just as Acupuncture has been proven to help cravings from addictive substances such as alcohol and tobacco, regular treatments can also curb food cravings.  Acupuncture has been shown to elevate levels of serotonin, encephalin, and dopamine (all hormones which make people feel satisfied from eating).  In other words, acupuncture results in pleasurable brain chemistry without the adverse affects of something like sugar.

Poor eating habits and being overweight are cofactors for many diseases.  Remember, there are no quick fixes to ‘beating that craving’ or losing weight (note: we become more curvaceous naturally as we age, in most cultures this is quite healthy and attractive!).

Self-care techniques are important to learn and maintain as a discipline so that your health is long lasting – this can be as simple as adding a 10 minute walk and a cup of green or oolong tea to your daily routine.  Most important of all, your commitment to making changes in your lifestyle will have a dramatic and positive effect on your health.  At One Earth Acupuncture, I will counsel you on making and maintaining these changes.

One patient’s experience:

I’m a 57-year old man who’s struggled to control my weight all my life.  I love sweets and fatty foods.  I’m also a binge eater:  I learned early in life never to keep sweets around the house, and to buy small packages of ice cream or cookies.  Once I opened a package, I would invariably finish it in one or two sittings, whatever the size.

Invariably, too, I would eat too much at meals.  Even when I wasn’t hungry, I would find myself eating “seconds” and “thirds” seemingly out of habit.

When I was younger, and my clothes started to get too tight, I could simply work out a little more and watch my diet to lose a few pounds pretty easily.

In college I generally wore a 36-38” waist (I’m 6’3”).  For most of my adult life, from age-30 on, I wore 40”.   Starting in my early 50s, my waistline grew to 42”, then swelled to 44”.  I went on Atkins about 5 years ago, and brought it back down to 40”.   Then I went on blood pressure medicine.

None of my “old tricks” worked.  My waistline seemed to be growing inexorably.  I tried working out much more: I did become fitter, but my waistline kept growing.  This summer, when my 44” pants got too tight, I was looking at buying a 46” wardrobe for the first time in my life.

Instead, I went to One Earth Acupuncture.

Within a couple of treatments, I found I could control my eating better than ever before.  I didn’t give up specific foods, I just tried to eat less.  I found I could eat until my appetite was satisfied, and no more.  Gone were the gratuitous extra helpings.  For the first time in my life, I could open a chocolate bar and make it last over 4 days instead of wolfing it down in one sitting.  And I no longer crave the foods that used to haunt me:  without any sense of deprivation, I find myself rarely eating ice cream any more.

In 9 months, I’m now back to a 40” waistline, and confident that I’ll get to 38”.  I don’t feel deprived; in fact, I’m enjoying my food more than ever.  By not trucking around an extra 25 or 30 pounds, I’m enjoying the activities I love – fishing, hiking, cycling – more than I have in years.

— Michael Goldstein, Trenton