Center for Complementary Medicine

I have been practicing acupuncture for 16 years and the most common question I get is, “Do you help with weight loss?” My answer has always been “no, but I know of many acupuncturists who do.”

It’s not that I didn’t believe that acupuncture could help people lose weight. I have read many research papers that validated its ability to suppress appetite. It was more that I didn’t feel it was a complete enough solution for what can be a very complex problem, that requires a more multi-faceted approach. I am embarrased to say that I didn’t view obesity as a real health problem, with many associated health risks.

It is safe to say I have come to view obesity as an epidemic, particularly in developed countries like the U.S. It is now, in fact, regarded as the major cause of death n the U.S. I have also witnessed repeatedly weight issues overlap many of the other health issues I was treating people for, most notably, infertility and pain. One of the greatest obstacles I have found for preventing women from becoming pregnant is excess weight. As I began to view this issue through a different lens, and began to research ways to combat this growing health problem, I discovered a scientific breakthrough product that will revolutionize the field of weight loss.

I first heard about PolyGlycoplex (PGX) from Dr. Michael Murray, the author of the Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine. Dr. Murray has always been on the cutting edge of nutritional therapies and he has always been a pioneer for the use of nutritional therapies. He has actually devoted an entire book, Hunger Free Forever, on this product. A research team at the University of Toronto led by Dr. David Jenkins, Dr. Tom Wolever, Dr. Alexandra Jenkins, and Dr. Vladimir Vuksan, discoverers of the now-popular glycemic index. This world-recognized researchteam tested hundreds of different fiber combinations in laboratory, animal and human studies before te basic composition of this Super-fiber was discovered. When added to virtually anyfood with a high glyceic index (GI), PGX reduced the GI of the food by an amazing 50-70% (Glycemic index is the numerical scale used to indicate how fast and how high a particular food raises blood glucose (blood sugar) levels. Modern Research has discovered that one of the ABSOLUTE KEYS TO ACHIEVING EFFECTIVE WEIGHT LOSS AND LONG TERM WEIGHT CONTROL IS TO MAINTAIN GLUCOSE OR BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS WITHIN A VERY NARROW RANGE. It has been clearly established that increased glycemic volatility or unstable blood sugar levels is an abnormality found in almost every person with a weight problem. PGX is by far the most remarkable product developed at stabilizing blood sugar levels, reducing appetite and undesirable food cravings, and making weight loss and long term weight maintenance well within reach of most people.

The ULTIMATE SUCCESS of any weight loss strategy comes down to helping people learn how to achieve a sense of satiety with fewer calories than their body desires or needs. The effectiveness of fiber on reducing appetite, blood sugar, and cholesterol is directly proportionate to the amount of water the fiber is able to absorb, and the degree of thickness or viscosity it imparts when in the stomach and intestine. PGX is the most viscous and soluble fiber ever discovered, by far. As a result PGX has been proven to:

• Reduce appetite and promote effective weight loss, even in the morbidly obese.
• Increase the level of compounds that block the appetite and promote satiety.
• Decrease the level of compounds that stimulate overeating.
• Reduce postprandial(after meal)blood glucose levels when taken with foods.
• Reduce the glycemic index of any food or beverage.
• Increase insulin sensitivity and dcrease blood insulin levels better than any drug.
• Improve diabetes control and dramatically reduce the need for medication or insulin in the diabetic.
• Lower cholesterol and triglycerides.

Acupuncture has a long history of being used to treat weight loss. Specifically, a pin is inserted into the ear on the reflex point which corresponds to the stomach and the vagus nerve. This auricular point raises serotonin levels in the brain simultaneously increasing tone in the smooth muscle o the gastric wall and increasing satiety. The pin is taped in place for approximately 1 week then re-inserted in a follow up visit each week. Togeth, with PGX, appetite suppresion and subsequent weight loss becomes a reality for anyone interested in losing weight.

Once appetite control is mastered by using Auricular(ear)pin and PGX specific eating STRATEGIES rather than complex diets with numerous rules can be established for long term weight control. Sensible changes in your lifestyle habits and behaviors to help you gain healthy control over your weight as a way of life becomes possible. There are three important properties that determine a food’s ability to create a significant and sustainable sense of satiety. They are:

• Glycemic impact (the impact of a food on your blood sugar)
• Volume (how much space a food occupies in your stomach)
• Viscosity (the thickness of a food as it passes through your digestive tract)

We’ve already discussed glycemic impact, so let’s briefly discuss volume and viscosity. Most foods in the modern Western diet are packed with calories for the amount of volume they occupy in the stomach. This means you have a tendency to eat far too many calories before your stomach feels at all full. In addition to being low in volume, typical foods in the Western diet are also very low in thickness or viscosity. Low viscosity foods move through the digestive tract very quickly and are rapidly absorbed, which means your digestive system will be looking for more food shortly after you’ve eaten. Therefore, to promote a high level of satiety, you must incorporate a variety of foods in your diet tht are lower in calories but high in volume, high in viscosity, and low in glycemic index impact. Particularly if you eat these foods AT THE BEGINNING of most meals your initial hunger will begin to diminish and when you turn to the part of your meal that are higher in calories, you will be able to eat slower and feel satisfied with a smaller portion size. By taming your appetite with foods that are higher in volume and viscosity early in your meal, you give your stomach a chance to communicate to the brain that you are starting to feel satisfied before you turn to the higher calorie foods in your meal.

For those who need and are interested in an individual weight loss coach, Katie Peuvrell, M.A., can provide personalized, fast-acting, deep-reaching counseling designed to remove the obstacles that used to keep you from loving your body into optimal health and well being. Katie can teach you to:

• Set achievable goals for weight loss and life improvement
• Train your mind to crave healthy food instead of those you would rather leave alone
• Remove the obstacles to your weight loss such as:
• emotional eating
• negative mental programming
• limiting beliefs about yourself and your body
• Use deep relaxation and guided imagery to train the subconscious mind on healthy eating habits to set an “image goal” that it will follow
• teach you self-hypnosis specifically for losing weight

Katie has worked at the Center for the past 5 years and is incredibly skilled at what she does. Call the Center for details.

I hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity to utilize this truly breakthrough product in the science of weight loss. When combined with the ancient technique of auricular(ear) therapy, I truly believe this can be a life changing experience for those of you who have battled this health issue for much of your life, or even if you want to lose just 15-20 pounds.

Yours in Health,

Rick J. Bernard, L.Ac.