Is your body trying to tell you something?<\/p>\n
TikTok\u2019s latest health hack has users ditching nutrition labels and instead relying on \u201cmuscle reactions\u201d to judge which foods are good for them.<\/p>\n
Fans claim that the method can reveal hidden food sensitivities, chemical imbalances, suppressed emotions and even help guide dating choices. But not everyone\u2019s convinced. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the most ridiculous almond mom behavior that I have ever seen,\u201d Blake Sanburg, a health and nutrition influencer, said in a recent TikTok<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n People are using so-called muscle testing to decide what foods to eat. Peruphotoart \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n The comment section is just as skeptical, with one user dubbing the viral trend the \u201cOuija board of wellness.\u201d<\/p>\n The Post spoke with Dr. Alex Maryansky<\/a>, director of pain management at Northwell\u2019s Staten Island University Hospital, to get the lowdown on muscle testing \u2014 and how this seemingly harmless fad could could go sideways.<\/p>\n What is muscle testing?<\/p>\n \u201cThis trend is just a modernized version of a practice called \u201capplied kinesiology<\/a>\u201d which originated in 1964,\u201d Maryansky explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n Online videos<\/a> show people holding a snack \u2014 anything from a bag of chips to an apple \u2014 close to their chest, closing their eyes and waiting for their body to naturally lean forward or backward.<\/p>\n Proponents contend that a forward lean means the food is good for you, while leaning back means it\u2019s a no-go.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a super effective way to communicate with your subconscious to see what\u2019s going on in your body,\u201d Jessy Pearson, a certified emotion code practitioner and self-described muscle testing expert, said in a TikTok<\/a>.<\/p>\n Muscle testing fans claim it can help identify food allergies. TikTok<\/p>\n While applied kinesiology has grown in popularity over the last half century, experts say that the science doesn\u2019t back it up.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough the years, many variations of this practice have suggested to be able to identify a wide variety of things, even diagnosing cancer,\u201d Maryansky said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, there have been multiple randomized controlled trials, reviews, and studies that have shown that there is no evidence that these practices have any validity to them,\u201d he continued. <\/p>\n Not-so-subconscious<\/p>\n One of Maryansky\u2019s biggest concerns with muscle testing is unconscious bias \u2014 a subtle influence that can totally skew results. <\/p>\n Scroll through TikTok\u2019s #MuscleTesting<\/a> videos, and you\u2019ll see most people start with their eyes open<\/a>, already knowing what food they\u2019re testing.<\/p>\n Unconsious bias may skew the results of muscle testing. TikTok<\/p>\n That, Maryansky said, triggers something called the \u201cideomotor phenomenon,\u201d where tiny, unconscious muscle movements are driven by your thoughts and expectations.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you know what the object you are holding is, you\u2019ve already made a conscious decision on whether it is good or bad and your movements will respond accordingly,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n In fact, Maryansky said that when testers are blindfolded, their muscle responses are about as reliable as a coin toss. <\/p>\n \u201cThe ideomotor phenomenon is the same principle behind why a Ouija board works and why you can feel the pointer move across the board even though you are not pushing it \u2018on purpose,\u2019\u201d he explained. <\/p>\n But the underlying influences don\u2019t stop there.<\/p>\n There are countless muscle testing variations. One popular TikTok version<\/a> has a person hold a food item while extending an arm sideways, resisting downward pressure from a second person.<\/p>\n If the food\u2019s \u201cgood,\u201d the arm stays strong; if it\u2019s \u201cbad,\u201d the arm weakens, and the tester can push it down.<\/p>\n Muscle testing evaluates muscle strength and response. TikTok\/<\/p>\n The problem, Maryansky said, is the person pushing on the arm brings their own biases to the table \u2014 unknowingly changing the force they apply based on what they expect the result to be.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a different phenomenon called the observer-expectancy effect,\u201d he said. \u201cBlindfold this person too? And again, the amount the arm moves will become no better than random chance.\u201d<\/p>\n When wellness goes wrong<\/p>\n Swaying in the supermarket might sound like innocent fun, Maryansky said it\u2019s not an effective way to make choices about what to put in your body. <\/p>\n \u201cIt can be a dangerous practice because it bases \u2018good\u2019 or \u2018bad\u2019 on nothing but a subconscious response,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Doctors are warning against using muscle testing to guide supplement intake. TikTok<\/p>\n The stakes get higher when people start using muscle testing to decide which supplements to take \u2014 and how much \u2014 a trend that\u2019s all over TikTok<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIf a person was to hold a jar of poison and their arm response went to \u2018good,\u2019 well, it still wouldn\u2019t be good for them,\u201d Maryansky said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cUsing these practices to decide what foods to eat or what medications and supplements to take can wrongly make a person believe that they are doing what\u2019s best for their body and end up making them very sick,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n You can sway all day, but Maryansky said the smartest move is to talk to your doctor before making decisions about your diet and supplement intake. <\/p>\n \u201cThis type of practice is a good example of why researchers and physicians employ standardized and rigorous scientific methodology designed to remove secondary effects and unconscious bias when deciding whether or not something actually works,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t