Could Ear Acupuncture Aid Weight Loss?

Many turn to acupuncture as a way to relax and unwind from stress or added tension. However, a recent study suggests that ear acupuncture may be successful in helping some lose weight.

Study researchers from Korea recruited 91 overweight adults who had a body mass index (BMI) of 23 or higher. The team then used acupuncture on five different points of the outer ear that were called shen-men (divine gate), spleen, stomach, hunger and endocrine.

After this, they compared these five points to sham treatment and to one hunger point treatment. All study participants were given a restrictive diet to follow but not a weight loss one. They were also all asked to avoid extra exercise involvement through the eight-week study period.

Thirty-one adults in the study were assigned to the five-point treatment group, all of whom received needle injections that were 2mm deep into the outer portion of the ear. These needles were kept in place with surgical tape for a two week period, as both ears received the acupuncture treatment. Thirty adults received the acupuncture treatment, but only one received acupuncture at the hunger point with the remaining 30 receiving sham treatment.

BMI, waist circumference, body fat mass, body fat percentage and blood pressure was also measured throughout three points of the study-the beginning, middle and end of the eight week period. Before the study was finished, 24 people had dropped out with 15 of them from the sham treatment group.

For those that remained, findings showed that after four weeks, participants who received the five-point treatment had a 6.1 percent reduction in BMI. Those in the one-point group had a 5.7 percent overall reduction. Waist circumference also fell for those who received the five-point treatment.

More information regarding the study can be found via the journal Acupuncture in Medicine.