How traditional Chinese medicine can help you lose weight, from acupuncture to cupping

Practitioners explain how TCM can be used for weight loss, and a Hong Kong-based student describes how it worked for her

Reading Time:5 minutes

A TCM practitioner prepares traditional Chinese medicine ingredients. Discover how TCM aided a Hong Kong student’s weight loss journey and learn expert tips. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 8:15am, 2 Aug 2025

When Huang Yu needed to lose weight urgently for medical reasons, she turned to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). With it, she lost five kilograms (11 pounds) over three months, and she has kept it off since.

In January 2024, the 21-year-old from Shanghai, who is studying at a university in Hong Kong, learned she had a tumour on her uterus. This slowed her metabolism, and she eventually tipped the scales at 75kg.

If she did not lose weight, her Western doctor told her, the condition would be difficult to treat. He prescribed medication with hormones that helped boost her metabolism, but it left her feeling weak as she started having heavier menstrual periods.

“I had to spare no effort trying different weight-loss methods,” Huang said.

Traditional Chinese medicine can complement Western treatments to help an overweight patient lose weight. Photo: Shutterstock

She first tried intermittent fasting, slowly narrowing the window of time in which she ate during the day. However, she did not lose much weight this way, and fasting left her feeling woozy, especially after her physical education classes at school.

Last summer, she sought help from a TCM practitioner, who gave her weekly acupuncture – the insertion of thin needles into specific points on the body to stimulate the flow of qi, or energy, and promote healing; cupping – placing cups on the body to draw blood to the surface, stimulating blood flow and potentially releasing muscle tension; and gua sha – scraping the skin with a smooth-edged tool to remove energy blockages and increase blood flow.

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