Some experts advise weight-loss diets that are low in fats; some stress raw foods; others recommend diets high or low in carbohydrates; still other say everything should be done in moderation. All these good-for-everybody diets ignore you as an individual. Although certain foods are accepted as healthful or beneficial for weight loss, your digestion and energy are not like everybody else's. With an Asian approach to weight loss, your optimum diet is determined by traditional diagnosis.

An Asian medical approach is process-oriented. The difference is that the effective weight loss is best achieved not with extreme diets or medicines, but by enhancing energy itself. Digestive chi (energy) varies from person to person. It even varies from time to time n the same person. That is why there is no universal weight-loss diet that works for everyone. The best diet for you strengthens your weak chi. In this way, Eatern medicine links digestion with other life processes. Such as breathing, circulation, and immune strength, in a holistic perspective.

Another way in which a holistic approach to weight loss is process-oriented is that the activity itself can become an opportunity for self-learning. Our eating habits are part of bigger picture of our energy. This becomes clearer when we consider our constitutional type.

Excess Weight and Constitutional Types

Please, first determine your constitutional type. Your constitutional type indicates tendencies for health problems associated with a particular element (fire, water, earth, metal, wood) or combination of elements, many people suffer from overweight no matter what their element, because of stress, poor diet, and emotional factors.

Chinese medicine views overweight specifically as a sign of weak chi of the Water and Earth elements. Therefore, diet is not the only factor to consider when losing weight. It depends upon you constitutional type. It doesn't mean that we can give up eating he healthy diet. No one loses pounds by eating cookies, but some people need to build strength before they can lose weight.

Excess Weight and the Water Element

If you have a weakness in the water element, you may be one of those people who put extra pounds when eating nothing at all. You tend to have water retention. You may feel waterlogged and tired before your period or overworked. You digestion is poor, and you are prone to allergies, hormone imbalances, or mood swings. You don't need fewer calories as much as you need rebuilding and rest. Herbs can help you do both, so that your digestion and elimination have enough energy to work properly again.

Bitter, sour and a dash of hot

Bitter, sour, and hot flavors all work together to affect digestion. Hot spices melt toxins, while bitter and sour flavors move them along the path of elimination. These flavors work well together because they stimulate and move stagnant digestive chi. Bitter, sour and hot tastes are cleansing.

However sweet, oily and rich foods slow digestive chi and the nervous system. They are sedatives. You will always fell more energized after eating a salad made with leafy greens, lemon juice, and radish (bitter, sour and hot) than after eating creamy, fat, and sweet dishes. Such sedative foods cause us to put on weight because cleansing is impeded.

Long-term Effects

An Asian approach to weight loss is wiser that crash dieting in the long run, because using cleansing and tonifying herbs daily helps the body work better. Certain slimming herbs, when used every day, prevent fat, fatigue, and depression as well as asthma for some people. If you have experienced yo-yo dieting, losing weight to gain and lose again, you will greatly benefit by continuing your specific weight-loss program after attaining am ideal weight. It will help you stay trim, fit, and young because herbs improve chi. Slimming herbs will even help you crave healthier foods because chi and food cravings are related: The healthier your chi, that healthier your cravings.

Whether you are overweight or only have "potential fat", taking cleansing herbs to reduce phlegm, fat, and water retention lowers your risk of serious health problems.