Simple obesity refers to obesity without obvious causes related to endocrine and metabolic diseases, and it is considered non-pathological obesity. Simple obesity is related to age, genetics, lifestyle habits, and characteristics of adipose tissue. Many of the obese individuals we commonly see fall into this category. This condition falls under the category of "phlegm-dampness" in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Overindulgence in diet and excessive consumption of fatty and sweet foods can damage the spleen and stomach functions, leading to weakened transformation and transportation abilities. Internally generated damp-heat flows to the orifices and skin, causing swelling and obesity. A sedentary lifestyle injures the qi, hinders the smooth flow of qi and blood, and causes the spleen and stomach to become sluggish. The transformation and transportation functions are lost, and the essence of food and drink fails to be distributed, turning into fat and dampness that lingers in the skin, viscera, and meridians, resulting in obesity.
Spleen Deficiency and Dampness Obstruction Type: Obesity with edema, heavy limbs, fatigue and lack of strength, abdominal bloating, poor appetite, oliguria, and loose stools; pale tongue with white and greasy fur, and a fine and slippery pulse.
Phlegm Turbidity Obstruction Type: Naturally obese, with a preference for sweet and fatty foods, experiencing dizziness, blurred vision, nausea and vomiting, and a sensation of spinning when looking at objects, abdominal bloating, heavy limbs, numbness in the hands and feet, and expectoration of sticky phlegm; the tongue is pale red with a white and greasy coating, and the pulse is slippery.
Stomach Heat and Dampness Obstruction Type: Obese patients experience dizziness and a sensation of head swelling, a strong appetite with a tendency to overeat, thirst and a preference for drinking, abdominal bloating and fullness, and constipation; the tongue is pale with a thin yellow and greasy coating, and the pulse is wiry and slippery or rapid.
Qi Stagnation and Blood Stasis Type: Obese patients may experience pain in the chest and hypochondria, with a fixed location for the pain, palpitations, shortness of breath, menstrual irregularities, and dark blood with clots; the tongue may be dark with petechiae or ecchymosis, with a thin coating, and the pulse is fine and wiry or choppy.
Spleen and Kidney Yang Deficiency Type: The obese individual has a cold extremities, prefers warmth and dislikes cold, feels mentally exhausted and weak, has sore and weak waist and knees, experiences limb edema, abdominal bloating, poor appetite, oliguria, and loose stools; the tongue is pale, with a thin coating, and the pulse is deep, fine, or weak.
It is recommended to perform moxibustion once a day, targeting 2 to 3 acupoints each time, with each acupoint being treated for 30 to 40 minutes. Rotate the points treated, with a 10-day period constituting one course of treatment, and then rest for 2 to 3 days before continuing with the next course. (If time permits and there is a need, more acupoints can be treated with moxibustion. The specific duration should be adjusted according to one's own physical needs.)
Tea Therapy Recipe: Weight Loss and Lipid-Lowering Drink. 7 grams of honeysuckle, 6 grams each of lotus leaf, hawthorn, Cassia seed, and polished glutinous rice. Brew as a tea to drink.