Claire is a patient who came to see me for acupuncture a couple of years ago.  She was deeply unhappy and stressed out in her present job, and was struggling with mild depression.  She also complained that she was gaining weight around her waist, and it was hard for her to eat healthfully because she had such strong cravings for sweets. This trio of symptoms—emotional upset, sugar cravings, and belly fat—is a pattern that I see in many of my patients. They come to me because they want to feel better emotionally, but also don’t like the fact that they’re gaining all this weight, especially...

One of the most frustrating patients I’ve ever had was a woman I’ll call Emily, who came to me for weight loss.  She was in her late fifties, about 50 pounds overweight, and told me that she had tried every diet imaginable.   She said that she had gained and lost hundreds of pounds, and was trying acupuncture as a last resort. I spent a great deal of time talking with Emily about weight loss from the perspective of Chinese medicine.  I described what would be involved for her success, including the role of digestion, stress management, adequate sleep, and physical activity—beyond just...