Key Finding
Fourteen BED experts viewed CIH interventions — including acupuncture, yoga, and mindfulness — predominantly positively, with 21% reporting active acupuncture use in clinical practice and key benefits identified in emotional regulation, body image healing, and improved treatment tolerability.
Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is one of the most common eating disorders, yet many people struggle to find treatments that work long-term. Standard treatments often have high dropout rates and low success, leaving patients frustrated and without relief. A new study explored whether complementary and integrative health (CIH) approaches — like acupuncture, yoga, and mindfulness — could help fill the gaps in BED care.
Researchers interviewed 14 leading BED experts, including both researchers and clinicians, about their views on using these non-traditional therapies alongside conventional treatment. The results were encouraging. Nearly two-thirds of experts held positive views about CIH approaches overall. The most discussed therapies were mindfulness, yoga, and nutritional supplements or probiotics.
Acupuncture was specifically mentioned as one of the most used CIH therapies in clinical practice, with 21% of experts reporting they already incorporate it into their work with BED patients. Experts highlighted several key benefits of these approaches, including helping patients manage anxiety, stress, and difficult emotions — all of which are closely tied to binge eating episodes. They also noted that therapies like acupuncture and yoga can help people reconnect with their bodies in a healthier way, which is especially important for those who have experienced trauma related to body image or exercise.
Perhaps most importantly, experts suggested that CIH therapies may help patients stay in treatment longer by making the overall experience more tolerable and supportive. Rather than replacing conventional care, these approaches work best as a complement to it.
If you are living with BED and curious about adding acupuncture or other integrative therapies to your care plan, speak with your healthcare provider and seek out a licensed, qualified acupuncture practitioner with experience supporting mental and emotional health.
This cross-sectional mixed-methods study examined BED expert perspectives on complementary and integrative health (CIH) interventions in adult BED treatment. Fourteen expert BED researchers and clinicians were recruited via federal funding records, PubMed-indexed publications, professional society leadership, and clinical distinction. Semi-structured interviews were analyzed by ≥2 investigators using reflexive thematic analysis. Expert sentiment toward CIH was generally positive or supportive (64%), with mixed views (36%) varying by intervention. Most-discussed modalities included mindfulness (71%), yoga (64%), and supplements/probiotics/herbs (64%). Acupuncture was reported in active clinical use by 21% of experts. Primary clinical benefits identified included emotional regulation and stress/anxiety management (50%), somatic reconnection and body image healing (29%), and treatment tolerability/retention (29%). No effect sizes were reported. Clinicians acknowledged CIH integration within second- and third-wave behavioral therapies. Clinical takeaway: acupuncture and mindfulness-based modalities may serve as viable adjuncts to conventional BED treatment, particularly for improving emotional regulation and reducing dropout, pending RCT-level evidence.
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