Obesity

How to dispel moisture and lose weight?

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Here we recommend a few acupoints that could help dispel moisture and lose weight, please feel free to press them at home.

1. Zhongwan Acupoint
– CV 12 Acupuncture Point
– English Name: Central Venter

The Zhongwan acupoint is intersection of the viscera. The spleen and stomach interact with each other. They work together to neutralize excessive moisture within the body. Therefore, massaging Zhongwan acupoint can effectively invigorate the spleen, dispel cold and moisture, and protect the stomach. 

Zhongwan- CV 12 Acupoint- Central Venter
Zhongwan- CV 12 Acupoint- Central Venter

2. Fenglong Acupoint
– ST 40 Acupuncture Point
– English Name: Beautiful Bulge

TCM theory states that spleen is the source of phlegm, for various factors causing spleen and stomach disorder, stagnation of water and moisture, and the accumulation of phlegm, they can all be solved by massaging the Fenglong acupoint. Fenglong acupoint bears the function of dispelling moisture, and it can effectively remove the dampness turbidity when coordinated with the long-term massage of Zusanli (ST-36).

Fenglong acupoint- ST 40- Beautiful Bulge
Fenglong acupoint- ST 40- Beautiful Bulge

3. Xuehai acupoint
– SP 10 Acupuncture Point
– English Name: Sea of Blood

Xuehai acupoint belongs to the Foot Taiyin Spleen Meridian, is an important acupuncture point for treating blood symptoms. Xuehai acupoint carries function as nourish blood and promote blood circulation, strengthen spleen and dispel dampness, dispel wind and arrest itching, and is an important acupoint for prevention of diseases. If massaging the Xuehai point for one minute every day, efficacy of dampness dispelling would be very good.

Xuehai Acupoint - SP 10 - English Name: Sea of Blood
Xuehai Acupoint – SP 10 – English Name: Sea of Blood

A crucial cause of obesity- excessive moisture (I)

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Some people would become obese even if only drinking water, and some can’t lose weight no matter how hard he/she tries. One possible cause is their obesity belongs to a type known as puffiness, which is caused by heavy Moisture- a crucial concept of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). In the next series of posts we will take a look at how moisture in human body is turned into fat and lead to obesity. Granted this is from perspective of TCM.

How does moisture come into being?

Within human body, there are two organs that process water, one is the kidney and the other the spleen. The kidneys likes water, while the spleen prefers to stay dry.

Yang of Kidney could react with nutrition in food, generate heat to maintain body temperature, and evaporate water upward within the body. It is the ability of the kidney to distribute water throughout the body. The spleen governs the intestines and stomach, absorbs interior water into the blood, and the blood would transport water back to the kidneys, where some of these water is made into urine, thus forming circulation of body fluids.

Normal vs. Obese

For healthy people, the strength of the kidneys and spleen is more or less equal, but what if the spleen is deficient?

Then massive water dampness, or moisture would accumulate in body at large quantities, the tongue would be large and swollen due to excessive soaked in water, and covered with thick and white coating, plus there would be scallops on the edges of the tongue. Such moisture is usually piled up in the lower abs and legs; when they are mixed up with fat, it would make people look even more obese. There would also be a lot of water dampness in the stool, i.e. diarrhea, loose stool, and shapeless stool.

These water could pile up very quickly. Some weight-loss formulas use diuretic methods to increase the body’s water discharging capacity, which could become effective quickly. However, it only cures the symptoms; once the formulas are stopped, the lost weight would come back in no time, and this will be harmful to body as it compromises immunity and make people more susceptible to catching a cold.