Weight: what TCM asks about, and what it does not measure
Physician Poh Yu Min (Joy) · 傅瑜敏医师
A TCM consultation about weight will ask what time you eat, how you sleep, whether you feel heavy after meals and how your energy moves through the day. It will not ask what you weigh. That is not politeness — it is that the questions TCM can answer are about how the body is handling food, not about the number.
Function, not arithmetic
The consultation covers appetite, digestion, bowel habit, energy, sleep, thirst, and the shape of your day — when you eat, how fast, how late, and what happens afterwards. TCM approaches weight through how the body is processing food and fluid, so those are the things it has something to say about.
The words a physician will use
Dampness, spleen qi, stagnation. These describe a pattern, and the most important thing to say about dampness is what it is not: it is not a measurement of body fat, and it is not a synonym for water retention. It is a way of grouping a set of observations — heaviness, sluggish digestion, a coated tongue — so that treatment can follow from it.
Where a doctor's diagnosis fits
Thyroid disease, diabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome all affect weight and are all diagnosed by a doctor, with blood tests. So do a number of common medications. TCM cannot detect any of them, and a weight change with a medical cause needs that cause found.
If you have any of these, or have had bariatric surgery, tell the physician — it changes what is appropriate. Bring your reports.
Please see a doctor about weight that is changing quickly without a change in what you are eating, and about any weight loss you cannot account for — that is worth investigating rather than treating. If your relationship with eating is distressing you, a doctor is also the right first call, and saying so out loud is the hard part rather than the shameful one. None of this is a reason to stop TCM treatment. It is a reason to have both.
This article is general information, not medical advice, and not a promise about what any treatment will do. What is appropriate for you is decided at consultation.