Muscle testing, or applied kinesiology, is a technique used by the chiropractic community and health practitioners to test muscle strength or weakness. Its use, according the American Cancer Society, is not supported by scientific research in identifying illness, disease or which foods are best to consume.
History
George J. Goodheart, Jr. originated the use of applied kinesiology in 1964. The "Journal of Manipulative Physiological Therapy" expands on Goodheart's claim "to have corrected a patient's chronic winged scapula by pressing on nodules found near the origin and insertion of the involved serratus anterior muscle," which lead to developing a diagnostic and therapeutic system of muscle testing still used today.
Uses
Muscle testing is used to determine whether there are any problems with a specific area or organ in the body. Recent uses for nutritional muscle testing as explained by the American Cancer Society are for evaluating if a particular food or substance "weaken or strengthen a person" when that item is held in the hand when the muscle is tested.
Evaluation Tool
An article published in "Chiropractic & Osteopathy" in 2007 reviewed the history, research and usefulness of muscle testing. Scott C. Cuthbert in conjunction with Goodheart, contends that the role of muscle testing in diagnosing neuromuscular disorders is an important evaluation tool, however scientific studies have yet to provide the necessary answers as to its effectiveness standing on its own as a way to diagnose and treat illness or disease.
Identifying Food Allergies
In the pilot study published Dec. 1998 in the "International Journal of Neuroscience," subjects who showed muscle weakening for specific foods had a positive radio-allergosorbent test for those foods. This study felt the correlation warranted further consideration and research into the neuromuscular responses that can be obtained doing diagnostic muscle testing.
Insights
The validity of applied kinesiology and nutritional muscle testing is still a controversial subject. Other similar techniques, such as the Neuro Emotional Technique, Jaffe-Mellor Technique and Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Technique, are being widely used by health practitioners to diagnose and treat health issues related to emotional and energetic blocks in the body.
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