Q. I'm often so busy that I end up eating fast food like hamburgers. How exactly does this impact my weight loss efforts?

In the past, I also found myself grabbing a hamburger between patient consultations due to a lack of time. I experienced firsthand how, despite being convenient, it leaves you feeling hungry soon after and makes the body feel heavy. The reason hamburgers hinder dieting isn't just about the calorie count. From a Western medical perspective, the combination of refined white bread, sugary sauces, and high-fat patties entering the system all at once is the issue. This causes blood sugar to skyrocket, prompting the body to release large amounts of insulin. Since insulin is a hormone that facilitates energy storage as fat, repeated consumption flips the body into 'fat storage mode,' where fat burning stops and storage takes over. Traditional Korean Medicine observes this process even more closely. Consuming greasy foods frequently leads to 'Spleen Deficiency (Biheo),' a state where the digestive system’s energy is weakened. Essentially, the 'factory' that converts food into energy fails to function properly. The resulting waste from this inefficient process is called 'Phlegm-fluid (Dameum).' This Phlegm-fluid lingers in the body like metabolic waste, obstructing the circulation of Qi and Blood. When this is compounded by 'Blood Stasis (Eohyeol)'—where the blood becomes turbid due to poor circulation—it becomes very frustrating. You may find yourself with a constitution where you don't lose weight as easily as others, even if you work out and sweat just as much. Fast food overloads our body’s detoxification system and lowers metabolic efficiency. While it may be difficult to quit immediately, let’s work together to gradually build a healthy meal plan so that Phlegm-fluid stops accumulating in your body.