Nutritional Response Testing:
The power of Diet and Whole Food Nutrition
By Lawrence Bronstein, DC, CNS, DACBN
Mahaiwe Chiropractic and Health Services
As a chiropractor, I became sensitive in my training to an energetic model. At its core chiropractic is about finding areas of decreased function in the spine that if corrected with a chiropractic adjustment, helps optimize function in the nervous system and allows a more robust response in the body's innate ability to heal. This perspective and training sensitized the chiropractic profession to be more open to the energy model of health and wellness. Because of this training I have been open to the use of muscle testing for the evaluation of patient's health and have used it successfully for over 25 years. For instance, I have found Nutritional Response Testing to be a wonderful tool for evaluation and developing individually designed dietary and nutritional recommendations that have been tremendously helpful for not only our patients but for family and myself.
Some of the health challenges that can be addressed by NRT are;
The use of muscle testing has become a major tool of many bioenergetic approaches to health and wellness. Muscle testing can be used to evaluate acupuncture points, body reflex points, food sensitivities and finding where there is stress and ill health in our bodies,. Whether we consider vibrational medicine, Reiki, acupuncture, applied kinesiology, homeopathy, etc., what these all have in common is recognition and utilization of the body's energy field.
In Dr. Richard Gerber's 1988 groundbreaking book entitled, Vibrational Medicine: New Choices for Healing Ourselves, he bridges the gap between science and esoteric healing. This is a landmark publication written by a medical doctor who cites hundreds of scientific studies that support the energy model of health and healing and presents the theoretical foundation of such therapies as homeopathy and acupuncture.
Nutritional Response Testing (NRT) is a non-invasive system of analyzing the body in order to determine the underlying causes of ill health. When these causes are corrected through safe, natural, nutritional means, the body can repair itself in order to attain and maintain more optimum health. NRT combined with chiropractic is one of the most powerful approaches I have experienced in helping to restore health and wellness. NRT typically helps to formulate a specific diet along with whole food nutrition.
Whole food nutritional supplements are made from concentrated food and are not synthetic vitamins and nutraceuticals. For example a whole food vitamin C supplement would have the complete vitamin C complex which is much more complex than synthetic ascorbic acid. This allows the body to utilize vitamin C as nature intended in its whole form. Studies utilizing synthetic vitamins often show negative health results such when alpha tocopherol, which is referred to as vitamin E, has been shown to be harmful for cardiovascular health. The better option is to obtain the whole complex of vitamin E as it exists in nature such as in wheat germ oil.
Using muscle testing and other alternative ways of analyzing early stress before pathology and disease develop is a huge advantage. Most lab tests and diagnostic procedures only pick up problems at the end stage of disease. Having methods to pick up issues way before disease and pathology develop is the key.
The goal whenever possible, is to avoid the use of drugs and surgery and assist the body in optimizing its own innate ability to heal itself. Of course there are appropriate times when drugs, surgery and traditional medicine are needed. The earlier diet, nutrition and lifestyle changes are introduced, the greater the chance more drastic measures can be avoided in the future . Restoring health and wellness is always better in the long run than waiting until emergency medical procedures and more toxic treatments are required.
It is important to note here that NRT along with other complementary and alternative medicine approaches do not classically treat disease and specific conditions but take care of people with these conditions. NRT is not meant to replace appropriate traditional diagnosis and medical care. For instance, we may work with a patient who happens to have cancer and support them with diet and nutrition, but we do not treat their cancer. How they treat their cancer is between that person and their medical team.
I would like to end with a quote from Dr. John Abramson, www.overdosedamerica.com:
"The U.S. spends more than twice as much per person on health care as 21 other industrialized countries. But our health ranks dead last (as measured by the World Life Expectancy: how many years of healthy life we can expect to live). It turns out that taking the most expensive drugs and having the most expensive procedures can be helpful or lifesaving sometimes, but for most people, most of the time, living a healthy lifestyle does far more to protect your health."
Mahaiwe Chiropractic and Health Services
As a chiropractor, I became sensitive in my training to an energetic model. At its core chiropractic is about finding areas of decreased function in the spine that if corrected with a chiropractic adjustment, helps optimize function in the nervous system and allows a more robust response in the body's innate ability to heal. This perspective and training sensitized the chiropractic profession to be more open to the energy model of health and wellness. Because of this training I have been open to the use of muscle testing for the evaluation of patient's health and have used it successfully for over 25 years. For instance, I have found Nutritional Response Testing to be a wonderful tool for evaluation and developing individually designed dietary and nutritional recommendations that have been tremendously helpful for not only our patients but for family and myself.
Some of the health challenges that can be addressed by NRT are;
- chronic fatigue
- chronic pain
- irritable bowel syndrome
- GERD/reflux
- gluten sensitivity
- gastritis
- arthritis
- autoimmune disorders
- skin problems
- hormonal issues
- asthma
- allergies
- and other conditions.
The use of muscle testing has become a major tool of many bioenergetic approaches to health and wellness. Muscle testing can be used to evaluate acupuncture points, body reflex points, food sensitivities and finding where there is stress and ill health in our bodies,. Whether we consider vibrational medicine, Reiki, acupuncture, applied kinesiology, homeopathy, etc., what these all have in common is recognition and utilization of the body's energy field.
In Dr. Richard Gerber's 1988 groundbreaking book entitled, Vibrational Medicine: New Choices for Healing Ourselves, he bridges the gap between science and esoteric healing. This is a landmark publication written by a medical doctor who cites hundreds of scientific studies that support the energy model of health and healing and presents the theoretical foundation of such therapies as homeopathy and acupuncture.
Nutritional Response Testing (NRT) is a non-invasive system of analyzing the body in order to determine the underlying causes of ill health. When these causes are corrected through safe, natural, nutritional means, the body can repair itself in order to attain and maintain more optimum health. NRT combined with chiropractic is one of the most powerful approaches I have experienced in helping to restore health and wellness. NRT typically helps to formulate a specific diet along with whole food nutrition.
Whole food nutritional supplements are made from concentrated food and are not synthetic vitamins and nutraceuticals. For example a whole food vitamin C supplement would have the complete vitamin C complex which is much more complex than synthetic ascorbic acid. This allows the body to utilize vitamin C as nature intended in its whole form. Studies utilizing synthetic vitamins often show negative health results such when alpha tocopherol, which is referred to as vitamin E, has been shown to be harmful for cardiovascular health. The better option is to obtain the whole complex of vitamin E as it exists in nature such as in wheat germ oil.
Using muscle testing and other alternative ways of analyzing early stress before pathology and disease develop is a huge advantage. Most lab tests and diagnostic procedures only pick up problems at the end stage of disease. Having methods to pick up issues way before disease and pathology develop is the key.
The goal whenever possible, is to avoid the use of drugs and surgery and assist the body in optimizing its own innate ability to heal itself. Of course there are appropriate times when drugs, surgery and traditional medicine are needed. The earlier diet, nutrition and lifestyle changes are introduced, the greater the chance more drastic measures can be avoided in the future . Restoring health and wellness is always better in the long run than waiting until emergency medical procedures and more toxic treatments are required.
It is important to note here that NRT along with other complementary and alternative medicine approaches do not classically treat disease and specific conditions but take care of people with these conditions. NRT is not meant to replace appropriate traditional diagnosis and medical care. For instance, we may work with a patient who happens to have cancer and support them with diet and nutrition, but we do not treat their cancer. How they treat their cancer is between that person and their medical team.
I would like to end with a quote from Dr. John Abramson, www.overdosedamerica.com:
"The U.S. spends more than twice as much per person on health care as 21 other industrialized countries. But our health ranks dead last (as measured by the World Life Expectancy: how many years of healthy life we can expect to live). It turns out that taking the most expensive drugs and having the most expensive procedures can be helpful or lifesaving sometimes, but for most people, most of the time, living a healthy lifestyle does far more to protect your health."
