Q. I've tried all sorts of things, from diet plans to weight loss pills. How is Traditional Korean Medicine (TKM) weight loss specifically different from these common methods?

I often hear the question, 'Isn't this all just telling me to eat less?' To be honest, I believed that too before becoming a practitioner of Korean Medicine, and I recall the dizziness I felt during my own attempts at extreme fasting. Through clinical practice, however, I discovered that the reasons for weight gain vary drastically from person to person. In Traditional Korean Medicine, we focus less on calories and more on 'metabolic waste.' If there is stagnated blood (Eohyeol/瘀血) caused by poor circulation or phlegm-fluid retention (Dameum/痰飮) due to impaired fluid metabolism, the body feels heavy and weight loss remains stubborn regardless of how little you eat. Imagine the body's 'exit routes' being clogged by debris. For instance, patients with Spleen Deficiency (Bi-heo/脾虛)—characterized by a weak digestive system—who force themselves to eat only chicken breast or salads may actually experience a drop in energy, further slowing their metabolism. In such cases, rather than starving, we must first strengthen the Spleen function to create a body capable of burning energy efficiently. In simple terms, if conventional dieting is about 'blocking the entrance' (restricting intake), TKM weight loss is about 'opening the exit' (promoting excretion and metabolism). At Baekrokdam Clinic, our approach is to identify where your body is congested and clear those pathways to restore healthy flow.