How Does Acupuncture Effectively Help You Lose Weight?

You might have heard of this before, but acupuncture is a form of traditional Chinese medicine which involves the stimulation of certain points on the body using needles that are expertly inserted through the skin.

Acupuncture has several health benefits and has been the centre of focus in several studies. It is mostly used to manage pain and stress. But there are also studies that specifically talk about how acupuncture can be related to weight loss.

Acupuncture for losing weight

For those who practice it, it is believed that acupuncture stimulates the body’s qi which in turn reverses the biological mechanisms associated with weight gain.

It is believed that acupuncture helps manage weight loss using four major mechanisms:

• Increasing the overall metabolism in the body
• Reducing your appetite to food
• Alleviating your stress levels
• Suppressing your hunger centre in the brain

Ideally, traditional Chinese medicine posits that weight gain is a consequence of the disorder of natural balances in the body, what is scientifically referred to as homeostasis.

By properly channelling your qi energy to the right places, acupuncture helps alleviate this imbalance and normalizes your entire system.

How it works

1. Increasing metabolism

For you to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than the amount you consume. This creates a deficit which makes your body to burn more fat to maintain your usually energy requirements. As a result, your fat stores reduce and you end up losing weight. Acupuncture helps in boosting metabolism, especially the metabolism of fats to help get rid of stored body fat responsible for weight gain.

2. Reducing appetite

Acupuncture effectively reduces appetite using various techniques. It produces inhibits the production of appetite stimulating hormones and also manipulates appetite centres so much so that you wouldn’t feel any cravings for food. A special type of acupuncture called ear acupuncture is used for weight loss because it is hypothesized that there are curtained regions in your ear which controls your appetite.

3. Alleviating stress

Most studies have linked stress to increased weight. Stress can range from a variety of factors such as lack of sleep, disease and/or social-economic factors.

When you are stressed, your body produces copious amounts of a stress hormone called cortisol. Cortisol is a potent appetite inducer and may explain the reason why some people crave for junk foods when they are stressed.

By alleviating stress, acupuncture helps inhibit the excess production of stress hormones and subsequently helps in reducing appetite.  By reducing the number of calories entering your body, de-stressing makes for an effective slimming treatment.

4. Suppressing hunger

Among the several benefits of acupuncture, it is also hypothesized that this procedure can suppress the hunger centre in the brain.

This makes you less hungry and lowers the number of calories you consume per day. Since weight gain is affected by how much you eat, hunger suppression is one of the beneficial effects when you want to lose weight using acupuncture.

Conclusion

When considering acupuncture for weight loss in Singapore, the overall results you achieve is dependent on the person performing the procedure as well as the number of sessions you undergo. Different practitioners would recommend different methods and different number of sessions. Consult a qualified practitioner to find out which procedure best suits your needs.

Top 5 Weight Loss Trends Of 2019 You Should Know About

It is way past the time for making new year resolutions, but do you still want to modify and/or clean your diet? Taking that step is commendable but you still need to decide on a diet plan among the seemingly endless diet trends available out there.

All these diet trends are common in that they promise benefits such as their ability to burn fat, their anti-inflammatory properties and their ability to boost your energy. However, which of these claims are true?

Here are some useful information on what you should know about the top 5 diets for weight loss popular in Singapore this year:

• The Ketogenic Diet

The ketogenic diet, commonly called keto diet, is perhaps one of the well-known diets for weight loss and certainly one of the best weight loss program. This diet is high in fat and low in carbs. However, it is also one o the most difficult to follow.

The science behind keto is simple. If you decrease your carb intake, you forcefully direct your body into ketosis – a state where your body burns fats instead of the usual carbohydrates in order to produce energy.

On a general scale, only about 10% of your daily calories will be derived from carbs while as much as 80% will come from fats, including but not limited to: nuts, oils and avocado.

Keto is so restrictive that most dietitians will advise against it if you don’t know how keto should be carried out.

• The Paleo Diet

Paleo diet has been branded the name, “the caveman diet”. It shares similarities with the ketogenic diet, though, it has its own unique features and characteristics which makes it an effective slimming treatment.

It is posited that by consuming a lot of vegetables while eliminating gluten from your diet can help reduce inflammation in your body.

Inflammation in the body has been linked to diseases such as arthritis, cancer and diabetes. Ideally, processed foods such as soda and refined carbohydrates are the predisposing factors to inflammation.

• DASH Diet

DASH is simply an abbreviation for Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension. Health experts consider this diet plan healthy for the heart and is helpful for weight loss and reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases.

This diet is easy to follow because there are no crazy rules involved. It only emphasizes that you should consume foods lower in sodium while limiting those foods high in potassium, calcium and magnesium.

The menu for DASH diet mainly comprises plenty of vegetables, low-fat dairy products, whole grains and fruits. Fish, nuts and poultry are also important components of this diet.

• Whole 30

Whole 30 is an elimination diet. You basically eliminate all foods and beverages that are potentially inflammatory. Some of the foods and beverages to eliminate include: added sugar, grains, alcohol, legumes, processed foods, dairy, baked foods and junk foods.

This diet plan only approves diets comprising of meats, seafood, eggs and veggies which are considered “clean”.

As much as this diet plan is becoming popular, doctors and dietitians are increasingly finding it unsustainable and potentially unhealthy because it is high in cholesterol and sodium.

• The Mediterranean Diet

The Mediterranean diet has been hyped recently. If you are looking for diet that is healthy for the heart, look no further than the Mediterranean diet.

This diet incorporates the basics of healthy eating characteristic of countries that border the Mediterranean Sea.  The diet emphasizes on taking vegetables, whole grains and fish while limiting your intake of unhealthy fats.

The diet has been associated with decreased levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) – otherwise known as bad cholesterol.

Conclusion

For beneficial results, most diet plans require dedication and consistency. Don’t sweat. If you have no idea on when and where to start, you can consult a dietician or your doctor for professional advice. In the end, just choose what works for you and stick with it.

How Can Lemon Water Help You To Lose Weight?

Enthusiastic about effective slimming treatments? If you haven’t heard about lemon water for weight loss, then you might want to reconsider where you stand.

Lemon water is a perfect energy booster which helps limit your daily calorie intake. It hydrates your body and keeps you in a prolonged state of satiety. These two are basically the perfect combination for an effective weight loss.

Here are some of the mechanisms through which lemon water helps with weight loss:

Low calories

The juice of half a lemon, when squeezed and mixed with water, contains just about six calories.

This is the perfect substitute for high-calorie drinks such as soda or orange juice. Comparatively, one cup of orange juice with a capacity of 237 millilitres contains as much as 110 calories.

This means that taking lemon water helps you cut down to between 100 to 200 calories each day.

Boosts metabolism

Inside the body, metabolic processes take place at cellular levels inside organelles called mitochondria. The efficiency of the mitochondria is greatly enhanced by adequate hydration.

Lemon water provides the perfect amount of hydration needed to enhance the process of metabolism. Thus, it speeds up the process of weight loss.

Enhances satiety

The best strategy for losing weight is ensuring that you keep yourself satisfied for a longer time to minimize any unnecessary snacking.

According to research, drinking just half a litre of water before breakfast is enough to reduce the number of calories you will obtain from a meal by up to 13%. Hence, drinking lemon water before a meal has worked miracles for people who have tried it.

Amount to drink per day to lose weight

Based on the caloric counts mentioned above, it is clear that you only need one glass of lemon water containing 11 calories to save as much as 3500 calories per month. Maintaining this ratio may help you end up losing about 1 pound each month, which is very impressive.

If your body weight is less than 150 pounds, squeezing half a lemon into a glass containing between 8 and 12 ounces of water is just enough to yield impressive results.

Individuals weighing more than 150 pounds will similarly require the same amount of lemon juice, albeit taken twice daily.

You literally don’t have to overconsume lemon water. Too much water in your body may end actually up interfering with the normal physiology of fluid balance within the kidneys.

As much as lemon water is effective, you should stick a maximum of 12 ounces of lemon water taken once or twice daily depending on your weight.

Conclusion

Frankly, lemon water is similar to plain water in more ways than one, and they are almost equally beneficial.

However, what makes lemon water different is that it is rich in additional nutrients and can be considered an excellent supplement to even the best weight loss program in Singapore.

From nourishing your body, boosting your energy and priming your immune system, lemon water is beneficial to help your body lose weight effectively!

Seven Foods That You Should Consume To Help Your Weight Loss

For some people losing weight by taking a strict diet is very difficult. However, it does not mean losing weight cannot be achieved.

For those who have difficulty losing weight through dieting, you can try and eat foods that are high in protein, fibre, and fat. These nutrients can be combined into daily meals to reduce your weight.

Here are seven foods that you can consume to boost weight loss:

1. Eggs

Eggs are rich in protein and are easily absorbed by the body. Also, eggs also contain many vitamins that the body needs to increase metabolism.

2. Fruit and Vegetables

The fibre contained in fruits and vegetables can make you full longer but will not make you gain weight.

You can eat fruits and vegetables raw, steamed or sautéed with a little oil. Do not cook them too long so as not to damage the vitamin content.

3. Nuts

Nuts are rich in nutrients and calories, which can help you lose weight. Eat nuts as a substitute for your snacks to help increase your satiety.

4. Oatmeal

Oatmeal is good food for losing weight as it increases the body’s metabolism thanks to its high fibre content.

Combining it with berries, bananas or avocados is also one of the practical ways to eat delicious yet nutritious foods.

5. Greek Yogurt

Following frozen yoghurt, Greek yoghurt is becoming a trend among dieters. Greek yoghurt is well-liked because of its thicker texture yet still low in fat content.

8 ounces of Greek yoghurt contains about 20 grams of protein, almost twice as much when compared to regular yoghurt. Eating Greek yoghurt at least 3 hours after lunch can curb your appetite during dinner.

6. Green Tea

Green tea is a drink known for its high antioxidant content. It can help you lose weight due to catechins and tannins, which increases the body’s ability to burn fat while suppressing stress hormones that cause obesity.

Its high antioxidant content is also able to help fight inflammation and reduces the risk of Parkinson’s disease, ovarian, colorectal, skin and prostate cancer.

For maximum benefit, brew it with a squeeze of lime or lemon and drink it in the morning after breakfast or at least an hour after eating.

Avoid drinking green tea on an empty stomach as it can trigger an increase in stomach acid.

7. Mineral water

Regularly drinking mineral water allows kidneys to purge itself of waste and harmful toxins in the body. Water also increases efficiency in the digestive system.

Mineral water helps process food, preventing constipation and controlling your appetite. Ensure you meet your body fluids to increase your body’s metabolism to burn fat faster.

Consuming these seven food and drinks can definitely be considered one of the best slimming treatments that can help you with their natural benefits.

Adding onto this diet, you should balance it with regular exercise to run a good weight loss program in Singapore for optimal results.

However, keep in mind that a fast or slow weight loss depends on several factors such as age to hormonal balance.