Claim that Pressing These 4 Points On Your Body Will Accelerate Your Metabolism and Lose Weight Fast
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WHAT IS THE TRENDING NEWS STORY

Press These 4 Points On Your Body to Accelerate Your Metabolism and Lose Weight Fast

A discussion about the relationship between acupressure and weight reduction. Acupressure is considered as a simple and non-invasive mechanism that could be effective in controlling symptoms such as pain, nausea, vomiting or even dyspnea; [1] but what about weight-loss? Could it be helpful?.

WHY THE STORY HAS MISINFORMATION

Some of the reviewed evidence implies that there might be an actual effect of acupressure in helping patients to lose weight, but most studies do not take into consideration the role of the placebo effect or alternate measures in these results.[2] One study performed by the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons aimed to determine the efficacy of an auricular acupressure device on obesity and weight loss versus placebo. The first group was given an acupressure device to use on their dominant ear and the placebo group received an acupressure device for their wrist. Participants were followed for 12 weeks with measurements of weight, body fat, and blood pressure monitored every two weeks. All participants achieved a combined loss of, on average, 0.96 kg and there was no significant difference between the two groups regarding weight or fat loss. They reached the conclusion that the acupressure device appears to be a safe device as it did not cause any harmful side effects to any of the participants. However, it did not promote significantly greater weight or fat loss than placebo.[3]

There have been other initiatives to compare traditional and non-traditional weight loss strategies between each other. Medications, the inclusion of caffeine, added dietary protein, adherence to physical activity, continued weight-loss therapist contact, consuming fewer calories from fat, and acupressure were considered. All the strategies, after being analyzed retrospectively and taking into account objective information, managed to be included at the level of evidence B[4], which means that some fair scientific evidence suggests that the benefits of the clinical service outweigh the potential risks, but it is not yet a proven treatment.[5]

Another important aspect to discuss is that most studies consider acupressure as a tool for preventing weight gain after successfully completing a proper weight loss treatment.[4][6] Although it seems like there is some relationship regarding prevention of weight regain, one study that focused on determining the potential of acupressure as a weight loss tool, compared the effects of acupressure applied at true acupoints against acupressure applied in sham-acupoints. 134 patients were assigned randomly to both groups, and both groups showed significant differences in body mass index, blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglyceride, and leptin or adiponectin over the 10-weeks intervention. This study could not exclude the effect of placebo and/or dietary consultation, suggesting further studies against a group that receives no treatment in order to confirm the weight loss properties of acupressure.[7]

There is existing controversy around the efficacy of acupressure techniques on body weight and whether it would help on weight loss treatment or not, but since it is relatively safe and not harmful, as opposed to acupuncture which carries more serious concerns, it is being applied more freely. Acupressure though carries its own safety concerns, like the excessive application of force on the acupoints of the body could cause injury or damage. However, this is usually very rare and limited to inexperienced practitioners.[8]

Other studies have investigated the impact of acupressure on obese and non-obese volunteers using the following obesity-related parameters as outcomes: body weight; body fat; body-mass index; waist circumference (WC); hip circumference (HC); and waist/hip circumference (WC/HC) ratio during a 9-week intervention. The results showed a statistically significant drop in WC and HC in healthy volunteers, but no significant drop was found in obese volunteers. This result could not be explained by the researchers, but still they pointed out that further studies are needed to detect the effect of acupressure by increasing sample sizes and conducting randomized control trials with both healthy and obese volunteers[9], which was the conclusion of most studies regarding the use of acupressure for weight loss.[10][4][6][7]


REFERENCES

  1. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3154967/
  2. ↑ http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0193945914548707
  3. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8574276
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2676575/
  5. ↑ https://www.essentialevidenceplus.com/product/ebm_loe.cfm?show=grade
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17309380
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25183702
  8. ↑ http://www.healthcentre.org.uk/acupuncture/safety-of-acupressure.html
  9. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18377231
  10. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2922972/

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