I'm eating mostly chicken breast, Vietnamese spring rolls, and gimbap, so why am I not losing weight?
Simply eating 'healthy foods' isn't always the solution. The key is whether your body can properly absorb those nutrients and convert them into energy. While low-calorie, high-protein diets seem ideal, they can sometimes overload or weaken your digestive system. This leads to a drop in metabolic efficiency and the accumulation of waste products in the body, resulting in a weight-loss plateau regardless of your effort.
The core issue here is not the caloric value of the food, but your 'digestive and absorptive capacity.' From a Western medical perspective, a sudden shift to a high-protein diet can place a burden on the liver and kidneys, alter the gut microbiome, and cause gas or slowed metabolism. Specifically, relying solely on cold-natured vegetables or dense proteins can reduce digestive enzyme secretion, plummeting your energy efficiency.
In Traditional Korean Medicine (TKM), this condition is referred to as 'Spleen Deficiency' (Bi-heo, 脾虛), meaning the digestive functions of the Spleen are weakened. When you restrict your diet while in a state of Spleen Deficiency, nutrients are not converted into energy but instead remain in the body as 'Dam-eum' (痰飮)—a pathological accumulation of fluid and metabolic waste. This buildup makes the body feel heavy and sluggish, leading to a frustrating plateau where weight refuses to budge.
Ultimately, the key is not 'what you eat,' but 'whether your body has the capacity to process it.' To break through this plateau, you must fine-tune your diet to match your current digestive state. If you visit our clinic, we will thoroughly examine your intestinal function and digestive health to provide a tailored plan.
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