Bioenergetic testing (BET) / Electrodermal testing (EDT)

Bioenergetic testing (BET)—or electrodermal testing (EDT) as it’s also known—is used to determine what aspect, if any, of your body’s energy system is off-kilter and what treatments might help you heal. It can be a pretty confusing concept, especially if you tend to struggle with scientific jargon (or if you’re just having a brain foggy day!). But if you’re curious about bioenergetic testing, it’s worth educating yourself, because some people say these tests hold the key to identifying and treating the hardest-to-diagnose illnesses. (You know…like ours.) There’s an alphabet soup of acronyms and terms for this kind of testing, including BRT (bioresonance testing), MEA (meridian energy analysis), and MSA (meridian stress assessment), among many others. There are also dozens of different testing systems, including Asyra (check out our entry in the WanaLibrary!), Avatar, Biomeridian, Prognos, QEST 4, Vegatest, and ZYTO, which all have roughly similar testing apparatuses. Typically, a system consists of two handles encasing electrodes that you hold in either hand during testing (sometimes there’s a device and a probe). Wires from the electrodes connect to a computer that runs software to interpret the data, and a “test plate,” also part of the circuitry, is used to evaluate any medicines you’re taking. Measurements of skin conductance—aka resistance (or not) to small electrical currents—reveal where there might be problems. The concept was first developed in the 1950s by a German medical doctor and acupuncturist who hoped to find a way to diagnose and treat illness at a more curable stage (and even if you’ve been lost so far, that part makes a lot of sense, right?). Fast forward to today’s computer era, when updates and refinements of bioenergetic testing apparatus and software have made it possible to quickly run through thousands of health challenges that have electrical “signatures”—from heavy metal toxicities and hormone imbalances to emotional stressors and microbes. Testing can identify the culprit(s) and then match them with potential remedies (from supplements and foods to homeopathics and herbal remedies).