Take Back Health

The USA spends the most money on healthcare per person compared to all other countries, and it spends double what many other high-income nations spend (World Population Review, 2024). Yet, more than half of people who live in the USA suffer from a chronic condition, and 42% suffer from more than one (Buttorff et al, 2017). It’s become clear Western Medicine is failing us. It simply manages symptoms while creating side effects. Healing people so they no longer suffer or require medication isn’t happening… but it is happening outside of Western Medicine. Body Code is one form of treatment that is seeing success, but is Body Code right for Christians?

As I search for answers to help my own family and myself heal from chronic illness, I decided to learn more about Body Code and read the book written by the doctor who created this system. I have also interviewed Christian Body Code patients, a Christian Body Code practitioner, and my own doctor who offers Body Code. These patients and practitioners shared that the religious beliefs presented in The Body Code book aren’t used by all practitioners. My doctor said that Dr. Nelson leans heavily on his religion, and she does not include it in her practice; instead, she tailors Body Code to the needs of each individual. This article will focus on the book and on questions Christians should ask as they look into this method and its founder.

The Body Code Explained Simply

Muscle testing has been used since the 1940s. It is a form of biofeedback. When the body is exposed to something it needs, the muscle strengthens. If the item is something that the body does not need or would be bad for the body, there is a weak response. Muscle testing is asking the body what it needs or what is affecting it. A strong response means “yes” and a weak response means “no.”

Dr. Bradley Nelson developed The Body Code, which uses muscle testing to identify a problem or imbalance within the body and uses energy to heal it. If you want an in-depth description, you will have to read his book, but I will give a simple summary.  

Dr. Nelson believes that the subconscious knows what the body needs at present, and it also remembers everything that it went through in the past.  Therefore, you can ask your body questions such as, “Are you reacting to a toxin?” or “Are you deficient in a vitamin?” or “Are you suffering from a trapped emotion?” and you can muscle test to get a response. Dr. Nelson created a chart that assists the practitioner in working through the questions to get to the root cause. This chart, or code, is several pages long in his book, but a very in-depth version is available in an app.

Body Code operates on the idea that everything is energy. Dr. Nelson explains that the universe is made of subatomic particles. “These are extremely small units of vibrating energy. In the same way LEGOs can be combined to create anything you like, differing arrangements of these little energies will produce atoms of different elements, such as hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen. Elements are combined to make molecules, which come together to make DNA, which constructs the components of your cells, ultimately becoming your body” (Nelson, pg. 31). Put simply: energy makes atoms which makes elements which makes cells which makes the body.

Dr. Nelson explains that it isn’t just our bodies that are made of energy, but the things that affect our bodies are made of energy as well. If you have a virus or a bacterial infection, that has an energy. If you have a toxin in your body from a medication or environmental poison, that has an energy. The force of an injury from a car accident has an energy. His solution is to redirect or remove that offending energy.

The Body Code book presents the theory that even thoughts, beliefs, and intentions have an energy. Dr. Nelson uses studies on prayer bettering the outcome for infertility (Cha & Wirth 2001) and for blood infection patients (Leibovici 2001) to demonstrate that intention has an effect.

First, he uses Body Code, like a map, to find the root cause of a problem. He muscle tests the patient in six different areas: Lifestyle, Energy, Circuits, Toxins, Pathogens, and Misalignments. When he gets a strong muscle response, he moves on to a checklist from that category. If it is a trapped emotion causing the ailment, he uses another chart to identify the specific emotion. Then, he uses intention to heal that specific ailment while using a magnet or his hand. He explains that a hand can be used because the body has its own magnetic field. He runs the magnet or hand down any part the governing meridian, which runs from the tailbone, up the back, over the head, and down to the inside of the upper lip. The governing meridian is connected to all other meridians and affects the way energy flows within the body.

His book is full of testimonies of patients around the world who have been relieved of infections, chronic injuries, depression, anxiety, emotional effects of trauma, allergies, damaged organs, and much more.

My understanding of quantum physics is limited. On a very basic level, it makes sense to me that everything is energy and therefore we can fix the root cause of illness and chronic injuries using energy. The scientific theory makes sense in my mind. However, my knowledge of the Bible and the Holy Spirit in my heart did cause my guard to go up while reading The Body Code book.

Unbiblical Religious Beliefs in Dr. Nelson’s Book

While I was reading The Body Code, it quickly became apparent that Dr. Nelson has religious beliefs – not a red flag in and of itself. He encouraged practitioners to pray while they use intention and magnets to heal. He also referred to his higher power. The term “higher power” is a red flag for a Christian. Usually “higher power” is a term that allows for many higher powers or many different gods or the belief that all religions lead to salvation. This is in direct conflict with several Bible verses:

As I continued reading, Dr. Nelson invited the reader to go to his website to learn more about his spiritual beliefs. I immediately did so and discovered he is Mormon. His website has several videos explaining Mormonism and inviting converts.

Mormonism teaches that there is no Triune God, that God the Father was a human who became exalted, so we can be exalted as well, that Jesus and Satan are brothers, that there is a Mother god, and that Joseph Smith’s Book of Mormon is “the most correct of any book on Earth,” even more so than the Holy Bible, which they believe has errors. (ChurchOfJesusChrist.org). These beliefs, among others, mean that the Mormon god is not the same as the Christian God, although Mormons claim to be Christian. I continued reading Dr. Nelson’s book while praying to Jesus for discernment. Here are the points that I found that conflict with God’s design.

Visions

Dr. Nelson said that he gained his knowledge of Body Code and was able to create it through a series of visions from his heavenly father. Mormons believe that Joseph Smith had visions, and the Mormon church teaches that Smith’s visions are the greatest event since Jesus’ birth and resurrection. As a Christian, I do believe it was possible that Smith received visions, but not from the Triune God. Rather, I believe these visions were demonic. A key difference between Joseph Smith’s “angelic” visitations and those in the Bible is this: During Smith’s visions, an angel threatened to slay him if he failed to obey (JosephSmith’sPolygamy.org).  In the Bible, angels always began by saying, “Do not be afraid.” They sought to give messages to believers and to protect them, not harm them.

In addition, today God speaks to Christians through His Word rather than prophets because Jesus fulfilled prophecy. When people tell me they had a vision from God, I do question it, especially if their vision involved fear, loss of control of their body, or threats. These things are not of God.

Muscle Testing by Proxy

Dr. Nelson teaches that you can muscle test a patient by proxy. This means that if you are a long distance away, you can still muscle test. For instance, muscle testing can be done in a Telehealth appointment. Scientifically, Dr. Nelson says this can be accomplished because of “quantum entanglement.” I will admit I do not understand this theory. Perhaps it is possible to span great distances via quantum entanglement.

However, I see some red flags because working by proxy is a Mormon belief in itself. Mormons believe that they can baptize the dead by proxy – meaning a living person can be baptized on behalf of a deceased person (Mormon Beliefs). Mormons base this belief on 1 Corinthians 15:29 taken out of context (Got Questions).

Dr. Nelson’s instructions for testing by proxy only cause me further concern. He instructs the practitioner to say, “My name is ______ (name of patient)” and to do that until they get a strong muscle (yes) response while muscle testing themselves. This means that they are now standing in the place of the person being muscle tested and have basically become that person. At the end of the session, the practitioner must break the connection by saying, “My name is________(name of self)” until a strong test is obtained (Nelson, pgs. 82-83). As a Christian, this sounds like possession.

Inherited Emotions / Ancestors

Dr. Nelson teaches that trapped emotions can cause physical ailments. This does make sense to me. We have seen people suffer trauma and stress and have physical consequences for it – heart problems, digestive problems, skin problems, sleep disturbances, etc. Dr. Nelson also teaches that people can inherit trapped emotions from an ancestor. On the one hand, we know that the sins of people do affect us. A neglectful or abusive parent causes trauma for his/her child. Alcoholism runs in families. Often, cancer runs in families. Descendants of Holocaust survivors have a heightened response to stress and altered cortisol levels (Dahorst, et al). It also makes sense that these genetics aren’t a death sentence because genes can be “turned off.” (For more on this, look into the science of epigenetics and the book, Dirty Genes.)

Yet, there is something that does not sit well in my soul when I read that one person’s trauma is passed down through several generations. Dr. Nelson shares stories of how child abuse or a broken heart can be experienced by a descendant, even if that descendant never actually experienced it or never met their ancestor. The Bible tells us that God does not punish people for the sins of their parents. See Got Questions and Focus on the Family for more on this topic.

I believe there must be some sort of balance when it comes to inherited emotions and generational curses. But what tells me there is something very wrong here is Dr. Nelson reporting that he releases these trapped emotions not just from his clients, but from his clients’ deceased ancestors, and there are reports of Body Code practitioners who have these ancestors “crowding” their offices to thank them (Nelson, pg. 326). This is necromancy, and the Bible prohibits it (Deuteronomy 18:9-12, Isaiah 8:19)

You can watch Dr. Nelson treat an inherited emotion in his YouTube video here. You’ll get a better sense of how Body Code works, and you’ll see him say he has released the inherited emotion from the client’s ancestors.

Entities

Body Code tests many things… organs, muscles, glands, hormones, emotions, traumas, allergies… but there is also a category for entities. He believes there are two kind of entities: disembodied and unembodied spirits. Disembodies spirits are the spirits of people who have died but have not moved on, usually due to addiction. A Christian knows that a person does not remain after death, but their soul immediately goes to either heaven or hell and awaits the Final Day when all are resurrected. The unembodied spirits, or evil spirits that have never had a mortal body and are “devoted to misleading people, sowing confusion and chaos.” A Christian would call this a demon.

I believe demons are active today. I do believe they cause physical and mental ailments. (Three excellent books on this topic are My First Exorcism by Dr. Harold Ristau and the books Afraid and I am not Afraid by Dr. Robert Bennett.) I take spiritual warfare seriously, and I would never battle against it without the Word of God as my sword and shield. If I were worried about an entity or demon, I would contact my pastor.

Can a Christian Utilize Body Code?

I think that depends. I do believe that God created this world, and He created energy. I believe when energy is disrupted, physical ailments occur. I believe it makes sense that if we fix the energy, we fix the ailment. But because this form of energy healing is so closely tied with a religion built on demonic visions and necromancy, I would only attempt using Body Code with a Christian practitioner who would use the science and leave out Mormonism. I’ve also considered the possibility of learning how to muscle test and apply the science myself. Or I may eventually decide not to use Body Code at all. I would not use Body Code with anyone who does not recognize Jesus as the only Savior.

Recognizing problems with energy and fixing it does not seem anti-Christian. My mind jumps to the woman who had a bleeding disorder for twelve years (Luke 8:42-48). When she touched the hem of Jesus’ robe and was healed, Jesus said He felt power go out from Him. I do not know exactly what that was and probably won’t know during my earthly life. I know Jesus healed and gave power to heal to the disciples. I believe the Holy Spirit grants the gift of healing to certain people. I would love to see more Christian healthcare professionals explore ways to use God’s creation to heal the root cause and turn from using man-made pharmaceuticals that only relieve symptoms and cause side effects.

What I do know is this: our most deadly disease is sin. We’re all infected with it. Jesus is the only cure for it, and He desires for all people to be saved. He loves the entire world, and He loves you. There is nothing you must do to be saved, no list of good works that must be accomplished. Simply confessing that Jesus is your Savior brings this free gift of Salvation.

I know Jesus has taken my sin away, and that is the healing I desire most.

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