"Test" Questions

One of my apprentices called to ask why someone would muscle-test poorly for a product that seemed to have only good ingredients. There are several answers! First is simply that an individual may be getting sufficient levels of those particular nutrients in other ways. Contrary to nutraceutical marketing, individual bodies actually vary in their nutritional requirements! I need a much higher than "required" ratio of calcium to magnesium but get enough of both from the foods I consume. Also contrary to popular thought-which changes the item about every three to four months-I don't believe there is ANY supplement that everyone should take. God did not hide one perfect food in some exotic place for us to 'discover' today to make us all healthy. Other reasons why someone might not test well for a particular "great" product include nutrient balance and form, quality issues, and testing procedures.

The specific product presented to my friend was a protein powder. I'll post separately about protein powder supplements, but one of their challenges is that the basis is usually a protein isolate rather than a whole food. Human bodies don't use anything in isolation, so even protein from a "great" food item is often hard to metabolize without the co-factors that would exist in the whole source. A good example is eggs; while it is true that egg yolks are high in cholesterol (which I don't believe translates to a negative blood cholesterol impact), egg whites are largely lecithin, which keeps cholesterol dissolved in the blood. So egg yolk powder could be hard on the body, while a whole egg would not. Likewise, high levels of one nutrient can offset and create deficiencies of other inter-dependent vitamins or minerals. This is especially true of B vitamins, which create rather than reduce stress when the balance is off.

Labels don't really tell you about quality. When my kids were young there were only two organic baby food companies. One brand consistently muscle-tested well, and the other consistently did not. Both listed identical ingredients but there was obviously a difference in quality; one company may have been trusting a supplier that was falsifying the organic status of the produce, using poor water for processing, or cooking the food in aluminum vats. I don't know the source of the problem but I was glad to have muscle testing to help me be aware of the difference. (I hope to release a new downloadable class on personal testing this fall!) Most companies rely on suppliers to identify and certify products rather than doing their own testing. One of the reasons I have stuck with NSP herbal products for so long is their very extensive testing of every batch of raw materials. A bottle labeled "red clover" could include just the therapeutic blossoms, or could have the entire plant along with whatever bugs had been dozing on the leaves when it was mowed over. Also, any ingredient comprising less than 2% of the product does not have to be disclosed!

Lastly, it is vital that you are using muscle testing as a tool for evaluation rather than an effort to prove anything. Our bodies won't lie, but they can be victims of coercion. I am frequently surprised by the way my clients test to certain things but I trust it implicitly. An unusual response prompts me to look deeper to find out what might be the cause, and at some point the reason always becomes clear. We are complex, distinct beings, and our emotions, environment, and energetic imprints all reflect differently. Muscle testing is a great vehicle for cellular communication-even if it doesn't tell us what we want to hear!