The holiday eat-a-thon is over…….
BUT, it has left its mark. Your weight is up. Eish……….. your clothes aren’t fitting, you feel a bit like a beached whale.
It is time to go on DIET.
Yuk !
If only there was a quick fix….. well there is, ear acupuncture. And it has been scientifically proven to work.
The ear-ry truth about the ear
Auriculotherapy is based on the premise, that the ear is REALLY connected. After all, it is a “giant” antenna, think Prince Charles, receiving sound waves from the outside world. These signals need to be processed by the brain, requiring a highly sophisticated networking system.
Accordingly the ear lobe (auricle) is a hot line, to the body as a whole….. hence ear acupuncture as a healing modality.
Unlike other “mapping” systems, like reflexology, which connects the foot to the rest of the body, auriculotherapy is not an ancient practice. It is a rather modern therapy, discovered by a French neurologist in 1957.
Ear rubs and tickles can feel good, both for dogs and humans……………so auriculotherapy can impact body chemistry.
A group of North Korean researchers have verified, ear acupuncture can be used to lose weight too.
Pinning up your appetite
The ear map is pretty comprehensive – the North Korean team identified 5 points that could potentially be helpful for weight reduction.
- Shen-men (divine gate)
- Spleen
- Stomach
- Hunger and
- Endocrine
They enrolled 91 “overweight” adults, keen to lose weight and then pinned up their ears in different ways. The experiment lasted for 8 weeks.
- One group, had their ears pinned in such a way that all five points were touched. The pins were inserted, then strapped in for a week. At the end of each week, the pins were removed and replaced, so the ears were “treated” for the full 8 weeks.
- A second group only had the hunger point pinned. Once more the pins were inserted and kept in place with surgical tape for the week. The process was repeated for the full 8 weeks
- A third group were pinned, but the pins were immediately removed.
NOTE : All participants were encouraged to cut calories, alongside the pinning procedure.
Ears versus bellies
All participants were weighed and measured at the start and end of treatment, and four weeks in. BMI, waist circumference, body fat mass, percentage body fat, and blood pressure were all recorded, to see what impact acupuncture might have.
A lot of people dropped out of the study, especially the people who were not being “treated” – so when all was said and done, the study only had data from 58 people. This might have skewed the results a little, but pinning ears was not the thing that put people off.
In fact, those whose ears were pinned, were more successful at losing weight.
The pinned all over group (5 points), on average saw their BMI decrease by 6.1 %, while those with their “appetite” point pinned to the wall, lost 5.7 %. The participants left to “diet” on their own i.e. the pinless group, failed miserably. They lost NO WEIGHT, nothing, NADA.
Big ears
So pinning up ears works – you may look like a dork, but you will be SIGNIFICANTLY THINNER.
Ummmmm….. maybe not significantly. A 6.1 % decrease in BMI sounds rather impressive, but in reality, for most of the participants, it probably amounted to approx. 3 kg.
In my books…………losing 3 kg in 8 weeks while “starving, is not all that impressive.
But it does work ! It’s been proved scientifically.
Why have you got such BIG EARS ?
The results of this study, may reflect a biological effect tied to the “connectedness” of the ear, but odds are, it doesn’t. Unfortunately, the control group i.e. the group whose ears were not pinned, did not walk around with surgical tape on their ears for 8 weeks.
My guess the walking around with taped up ears, is the secret here.
Others will notice your “ear” problem – some will just stare, others will brazenly ask.
“Why have you got such BIG EARS ? ”
And of course, the answer will not be….
To HEAR BETTER. The answer will be, to EAT LESS.
And when faced with the opportunity to have a second piece of cheesecake…………………your BIG EARS, will remind you, you’re on DIET.
So if you want another way to Trick or Treat your Sugar Gremlin.
Tape up your ears
Or some other public part of you.
The public reminder of your dieting goal – should help you keep on track. Being mindful helps when it comes to weight issues.
If you’re looked for a biology fix to your sugar gremlin problem, you can always enrol in the Tame the Sugar Gremlin programme.
Further reading
 |
 |
 |
| Maybe it’s time to invest in appetite suppressing glasses | Did you know that you have taste buds in your ears ? | Let out some of the heat during a hot flush with acupuncture |
