On Hypnosis and Weight Management

As many of us know, maintaining healthy weight is not only challenging but becoming more and more difficult. Over the past decades, the prevalence of overweight and obesity steadily increased [1,2]. In the U.S. alone, more than 30% of adults are overweight and more than 40% are obese [2]. This means that fewer than 3 of 10 Americans maintain a healthy weight as defined by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; to check your status, you can use the CDC Adult BMI Calculator).

There are likely to be multiple reasons why weight management is more difficult nowadays. Among these are bigger food and beverage portion sizes, greater caloric intake, and decreased physical activity [1]. This includes reduced physical demands for most occupations, an increase in urban land use, and more prevalent use of motorized vehicles [1]. However, those are all circumstantial factors that increase the likelihood of behaviors that promote weight gain.

Changing behaviors can be hard, but hypnosis can help you with the process! In our article about what happens in the brain during hypnosis, we explain that hypnosis is a unique skill your brain can use to assist in change-making. We used the metaphor of a medicine in a capsule form: what determines the actual effect in the body is the content (the medicinal substance) inside the capsule, but for it to work as intended, it needs to arrive safely at your stomach. If you try to pour the capsule content into your mouth, it might lose its potency. The capsule is the instrument that allows the content to be released at the right place and time to have the best effect. Hypnosis is like the capsule – it allows a delivery of content (in our case, suggestions to address behaviors that impact weight management) to help your brain to better facilitate the change.

Can hypnosis help with weight management?

As part of the process of changing behaviors that interfere with weight management, a recent review argued that hypnosis was effective in increasing food awareness, limiting emotional eating, reducing food cravings, and improving self-acceptance of body image [3,4] (which can help with setting realistic and achievable goals for weight management). Hypnosis can also be used to increase behaviors that support weight management, such as eating more slowly, sticking to a diet plan, and increasing physical exercise [4]. We have evidence from our own research that while using hypnosis significant weight loss can be achieved and maintained. (5) Hypnosis can help you to change not just how much you eat but how you eat. You can learn how to eat less but enjoy eating more. You can also also learn to focus on eating with respect for your body, feeding it as carefully as you would your child or your pet.

A recent review of previous meta-analyses (statistical summaries of findings across different studies) found hypnosis to be a highly effective way of reducing anxiety [4]. In the studies included, people who received hypnosis showed more weight loss than about 94% of those who received other task assignments (control conditions) and more than 81% at the most extended follow-up after the treatment ended [4]. Moreover, when comparing cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) with and without hypnosis, people who received CBT combined with hypnosis experienced more weight loss than about 60% of those who received CBT alone and more than 79% at the most extended follow-up after the treatment ended [4]. This means that hypnosis can enhance the effects of treatment if you are already receiving CBT for weight management. Although hypnosis can help with weight loss in the short term, a recent study emphasized that routine use of hypnosis for weight management leads to greater weight loss [6].

Like with every treatment for weight loss, not everyone benefits equally. However, a recent study showed that even for those who do not experience significant weight change with hypnosis, hypnosis was related to improved satiety, reduced inflammation, and increased quality of life. [6]

Bottom Line

Hypnosis can be very effective in reducing and maintaining weight and improves weight outcomes when added to other psychological treatments. Hypnosis can help you change behaviors that interfere with managing your weight and improve your relationship with your body, reduce inflammation, and improve your overall quality of life even if you do not lose a significant amount of weight. Given the effectiveness, safety, and ease of use of hypnosis, and in light of growing difficulties in managing weight, we strongly recommend you to try hypnosis for weight management and reduction.

References

  1. Parikh, N. I. et al. Increasing Trends in Incidence of Overweight and Obesity over 5 Decades. Am. J. Med. 120, 242-250.e2 (2007).

  2. Overweight & Obesity Statistics | NIDDK. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statistics/overweight-obesity.

  3. Pellegrini, M. et al. The Use of Self-Help Strategies in Obesity Treatment. A Narrative Review Focused on Hypnosis and Mindfulness. Curr. Obes. Rep. (2021).

  4. Barabasz, M. & Spiegel, D. Hypnotizability and weight loss in obese subjects. Int. J. Eat. Disord. 8, 335–341 (1989).

  5. Barabasz, M. & Spiegel, D. Hypnotizability and weight loss in obese subjects. International Journal of Eating Disorders 8, 335-341 (1989).

  6. Milling, L. S., Gover, M. C. & Moriarty, C. L. The effectiveness of hypnosis as an intervention for obesity: A meta-analytic review. Psychol. Conscious. Theory Res. Pract. 5, 29–45 (2018).

  7. Bo, S. et al. Effects of Self-Conditioning Techniques (Self-Hypnosis) in Promoting Weight Loss in Patients with Severe Obesity: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Obesity 26, 1422–1429 (2018).

About the author:

Afik Faerman, Ph.D. is a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University. He completed his doctoral training in clinical psychology with an emphasis in neuropsychology, and his clinical training at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. Afik’s research centers on identifying key neurocognitive mechanisms in clinical change, focusing on hypnosis, pain, and sleep. His research was supported and acknowledged by the American Psychological Association, the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, and the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis.