teaches that we can uncover hidden information about how to discover and control these energies. The evidence for and the significance of these beliefs cannot be substantiated in studies of the anatomy and physiology of the human body and the natural sciences.
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Scientific Evidence
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For example, a 1988 study tested the claim that muscle testing can determine nutritional needs. Comparisons between kinesiologists, with standard biochemical tests, placebos, retests, and a computerized dynamometer to measure
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muscle strength, indicated that kinesiology is no more useful than random guessing to determine nutrient status. (Kenny, “Applied Kinesiology Unreliable for Assessing Nutrient Status,” Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 88:698-704, 1988.) No well designed studies in reputable journals were found which validate the claims of applied kinesiology and its offshoots.
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As an anecdotal antidote to many of the success stories offered to validate this practice consider this one. At a 1994 alternative health fair in North Carolina a woman was tested using muscle testing and found simply to have weakness in her kidneys. It should be noted that this woman has numerous serious health problem for which she receives treatment including rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, fibromyalgia, insomnia, bursitis, irritable bowel syndrome, with a history of gall bladder disease (it was removed) and hysterectomy. This result could be attributed to the poor technique of the tester(s) but it should be noted that a highly accredited and experienced iridologist also missed everything.
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Applied Kinesiology and its offspring are a form of metaphysics and also need to be evaluated from that standpoint. The explanation offered for the mechanism of kinesiology by the kinesiologists is the rather broad description “energy.” While presented as “electro-magnetism” in an attempt to sound scientific, it is clear from the common sources and uses that the line between pseudoscience and the psychic is blurry, if indeed it exists at all. In fact, in researching applied kinesiology William T. Jarvis, Ph.D., Professor of Preventative Medicine and Public Health at Loma Linda University Medical School, questioned a major proponent about how the complex relationships between nutrients and herbs, body organs, teeth, energy meridians, and muscles were determined. George Eversaul, author of several kinesiology books, stated that George Goodheart was psychic and developed his charts by that means (5:310, personal communication).
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With the emphasis on personal responsibility in holistic medicine the question needs to be raised about the degree of responsibility a client is taking for one’s self if he uncritically accepts explanations of energy flows without investigating thoroughly. Hand waves which alter “polarity” and finger checks to validate it are, in fact, participating in a world view that is fundamentally incompatible with the scientific evidence and the teaching of Christian Scripture. The Reissers and John Weldon write in New Age Medicine:
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“There is no ‘neutral science’ of life energy and meridians, but rather a highly developed mystical system with strong ties to the psychic realm
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