One of the biggest challenges with food sensitivities is figuring out which foods are causing harm. It can be challenging to give up all the potentially harmful foods (as done in an elimination diet) because there could be many suspects but only a few actually causing problems. It’s much easier to restrict one or more foods from our diet when we can confirm which particular food is really the cause of the problems.

One way to narrow down possible offenders is through Muscle Response Testing, which is a form of applied kinesiology. The foods that are harmful to one’s nervous system will weaken it; the foods that are good for an individual will strengthen it. These weaknesses and strengths will be reflected in a weak or strong Muscle Response Test. It’s easy to do the testing and can take place in a matter of minutes.

Many practitioners have small glass vials which contain the energy of foods people are most commonly sensitive to. The body will react to them as if they were the actual food. If a patient holds a vial with the energy of wheat in it, for example, and then has a weak Muscle Response Test, there is a good likelihood that wheat is giving them problems. They feel the weakness and this makes it easier for them to avoid the offending food.

There are three options for managing food sensitivities: 1. Avoid the food. 2. Desensitize and strengthen the system to eliminate the bad reaction to certain foods. 3. Take supplements to help digest the offending food while at the same time taking supplements to heal the gut. One or any combination of the three can be implemented.

To desensitize the system, a patient holds the vial of the suspected food or the food itself while the practitioner clears the disturbances or blockages found in the nervous system related to that food.

To find the supplement(s) that will help digest the food and heal the gut, the practitioner uses Muscle Response Testing. Some supplements will elicit a strong muscle response and others will elicit a weak muscle response. The ones that make the patient strong are the ones that will help.

One way or another, patients can navigate their way through food and supplement options by seeing a practitioner that uses Muscle Response Testing.

Kristine Jelstrup, LMT, CBK, is a natural healthcare practitioner and owner of Central Square Health and Wellness, located at 126 Prospect St., #5, in Cambridge. Her services include Muscle Response Testing. For more information, call 617-833-3407 or visit CentralSquareHealthAndWellness.com.