Overweight people (a description encompassing over fifty percent of the U.S. population) are at increased risk for developing diseases such as diabetes, stroke, and cardiovascular conditions. Combined, these diseases lead to over 300,000 deaths each year. For the most part, these deaths can be prevented with the help of a sensible weight-loss plan.
The subject of weight loss is a sensitive issue for most people, particularly if one has a substantial amount of extra weight to shed. You'll also find that there are a number of poorly designed diets which fail to bring lasting, safe results. The weight lost during these diets is quickly regained after a short period of one's habitual eating. (This is not to mention the drug-based and quick-fix diets that are, in the end, quite dangerous for your health.) Experts agree, however, that an effective weight-loss regimen involve a comprehensive,
multilateral method. It includes dietary, exercise, and behavioral changes that encompasses one's entire lifestyle. This is where an alternative approach to medicine comes in.
Chiropractic Care
Your chiropractor is not limited to the treatment of mechanical and other systemic ailments, but can help you plan your approach to weight loss. This will include an individualized nutrition and exercise regimen, as well as support and active encouragement, when necessary, to keep you on track and motivated. An assessment of your individual needs and requirements sets the stage for long-term weight-loss success.
Regular chiropractic treatments have many benefits: helping to relieve stress, stimulating emotional stability, and promoting general good health and wellness. Chiropractic, of course, offers a complete structural alignment, which has extensive benefits, as well. In fact, vertebral adjustments have often shown
effective in weight-loss. The very act of aligning the spine assists in the body's absorption of essential nutrients. In addition, adjustments to the spine improve flexibility, while simultaneously lifting pressure off the spinal cord. This may contribute to a feeling of lightness and agility.
Aromatherapy and You
Aromatherapy does not sell itself specifically as a weight loss technique. Yet it can offer support to your diet and exercise program, giving additional motivation. Essential oils and "smell therapy" are known to stimulate the senses with a wide range of sensations and feelings, as well as stir memories and states of being. Grapefruit oil, for example, can be a powerful motivating force, energizing you to get up and exercise. Also, it
has been known to reduce cravings for foods. Essential oils are widely available at health food stores, chemists, and shops selling bath products.
Can Reflexology Help?
Reflexology may provide another tool to aid in weight loss regimens. The philosophy links parts of the entire body to smaller parts of the foot, so that stimulation of the foot serves to treat parts of the body. A specialized foot massage that takes this principle into account is said to offer many health benefits. Most relevantly, your endocrine gland can be stimulated by such an activity, which in turn regulates your hormones. This then works to regulate and stabilize your appetite at large.
Acupuncture Facts
Like other alternative forms of therapy, acupuncture's approach is multifaceted. The best acupuncturists first analyze the existing state of your body, making careful notes on the energy flow to various body parts, and the manner in which that flow regulates or impedes digestion. Needles applied to the body in specific regions will unblock evident impediments to metabolism. This will both ensure that you are digesting food completely, and have the effect of increasing your energy. Acupuncture also aims to regulate hormonal activity.
Naturally, diet and exercise is the core, on which acupuncture and Chinese medicine can stand, but certainly not establish. For patients who are doing their best to stay on track of their weight loss goal but need a little extra help - say, with curbing a raging appetite -- acupuncture may well provide the extra kick start they need.
Reiki, Ayurvedic, and other homeopathic methods are also available to you to lose weight in a responsible, gentle manner, though we consider the above methods to form the core. In all, alternative medicine approaches are there to help you achieve a harmonious way to tackle weight loss goals, opening the way for a healthy and holistic lifestyle.
By. Dr Derek Fox-Ezine article
