Q. I tend to overeat whenever I'm stressed. How can a Traditional Korean Medicine (TKM) clinic help me with this?
We provide a combination of herbal medicine and acupuncture to regulate psychological hunger, simultaneously suppressing excessive appetite and stabilizing your emotional well-being.
📝 Detailed Answer
Experiencing 'false hunger' during times of stress is often a result of physical imbalance rather than a lack of willpower. Many people struggle with intense cravings for sweets or carbohydrates when under pressure.
In Traditional Korean Medicine, this is viewed as a state of Qi Stagnation (氣滯), where psychological pressure causes energy to clump and stop circulating, or Dam-jeok (痰積), where accumulated metabolic waste impairs digestive function. Specifically, when the energy of the Heart and Liver is out of harmony, it becomes difficult to regulate emotions, often leading to binge eating.
💡 Treatment Goals
Our goal goes beyond simple appetite suppression; we aim to improve your body's constitutional response to stress, returning you to a state of self-regulation.
- Herbal Medicine: We prescribe formulas to treat Spleen Deficiency (脾虛) to eliminate false hunger and promote emotional stability.
- Acupuncture: By calming an overstimulated sympathetic nervous system, we help reduce the urge to binge eat.
- Lifestyle Correction: We provide personalized dietary guides based on your constitution to prevent blood sugar spikes.
Ultimately, emotional hunger can only be resolved once the body is in a state of balance and comfort. An accurate diagnosis of your current condition is the first step toward recovery.
Expert Verified
Dr. Yeonseung Choe
Chief Director
Last reviewed 2026.04.24