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Stimulating the ear through acupuncture happens to be an effective method when attempting to shed weight. The new research, published within the journal Acupuncture in Medicine, has found a five point stimulation from the outer ear might be much better than single point at reducing abdominal fat.
Ear acupuncture is based on the understanding that the outer ear represents every part from the body. Dr Paul Nogier first noticed that a patient’s back-ache was cured after sustaining a burn on the ear back in 1956. Since then, the approach has been utilized to deal with drug addiction and help people give up smoking and lose weight.
Researchers from Kyung Hee University in South Korea compared acupuncture of five points on the outer ear to 1 point utilizing a sham treatment on 91 overweight adults. 5 point acupuncture method involved sticking small needles 0.07-inches deep into regions of the ear that purportedly affected the shen-men, spleen, stomach, endocrine and hunger.
Study participants were inspired to follow a restrictive diet and not to consider any extra exercise throughout the eight week period of their treatment. Researchers randomly assigned 31 individuals to the five point treatment and asked the participants to keep them in position with surgical tape for a week. Following this period, the participants received exactly the same treatment on the other ear, using the process repeated over 8 weeks.
Thirty individuals the research were allotted to the same course of treatment, but just the main one hunger point. Another 30 people were given a placebo treatment, during which they underwent the same process and timescales because the others but the needles were removed immediately after insertion.
All of the study participants were weighed and measured in the beginning and end from the trial, in addition to four weeks in. These measurements included body-mass-index (BMI), waist circumference, excess fat mass, percentage body fat and blood pressure level to determine what impact acupuncture might have had around the individual.
The authors say 24 people dropped out prior to the eight weeks ended, 15 of which were within the sham treatment group. They suggest these folks may have thought it was harder to manage their need to eat and cope with the restrictive diet.
The participants in the five-point treatment who kept going for the whole period with the active treatment showed a 6.1 percent reduction in BMI after a month in contrast to the placebo group, which saw no reduction in BMI. The audience while using one-point treatment saw a 5.7 percent decrease in BMI.
The study saw waist circumferences also shrink, with the largest drop seen in the audience around the five-point treatment compared with the placebo group. Excess fat measures also fell after 8 weeks, only in those finding the five-point treatment.
Researchers conclude both five and one point approaches might help treat obesity, but the five point approach may be appropriate for tackling belly fat.
