I thought I’d seen it all.
As a nurse practitioner working in the trenches of chronic illness, I’ve run the labs, followed the protocols, and dug deep into root cause medicine. But in this week’s episode of Medical Disruptors, I found myself leaning in harder than usual. Because my guest, Dr. Kate Masterson, took us into territory I’ve never publicly explored before—muscle testing, parasite cleansing, and the emotional imprints our bodies carry without us realizing it.
I’ll be honest—some of what we covered pushed me out of my comfort zone. Full moon symptom flares? Frequencies? Emotional trauma stored in the gut?
But here’s what I know: if we only stay inside the box, we’ll never find what’s hiding just outside it.
Dr. Kate is a chiropractor and kinesiologist who helps patients uncover what’s really going on beneath the surface of chronic symptoms. Using muscle testing, she guides patients toward the priority issue—whether that’s structural, chemical, or emotional.
The conversation challenged me. It stretched me. And it made me realize how much more there is to learn.
If you’ve been chasing answers and still don’t feel like yourself, I hope you’ll keep reading. Because this blog might be the bridge between your symptoms and the clarity you’ve been missing.
The Body Speaks—If We Know How to Listen
One of the first things that struck me about Dr. Kate’s approach was her deep trust in the body’s intelligence. While many of us (myself included) rely on labs and protocols, she uses muscle testing to ask the body directly: What’s going on? What needs attention first?
If you’re new to the idea, muscle testing is a technique drawn from applied kinesiology. A practitioner uses resistance and feedback from the body’s muscles to detect energetic imbalances. It’s not about brute strength—it’s about subtle changes that can reveal whether a supplement resonates, whether an infection is active, or whether unprocessed emotion is creating dysfunction.
Skeptical? So was I. But Dr. Kate explained it in a way that made clinical sense. For example, if a patient is struggling with gut symptoms, she doesn’t automatically assume it’s a bacterial infection. Through muscle testing, she might discover the root issue is emotional—or structural. And that insight saves time, avoids unnecessary detox protocols, and helps the patient heal faster.
Parasite Cleansing: More Than a Trend
Let’s talk parasites.
I’ve never discussed them on the podcast before—not because I don’t believe in their role in chronic illness, but because it’s easy to veer into fringe territory without context. Dr. Kate brought the conversation back to science, terrain, and patient outcomes.
In her clinic, she often sees patients whose symptoms don’t improve until they complete a proper parasite cleanse. This isn’t about killing everything and hoping for the best. It’s about supporting the terrain so the body can do what it was designed to do: detox and defend.
A parasite cleanse, when done intentionally, can clear the way for deeper healing. Many of her patients report improvements in digestion, skin issues, mood swings, and even insomnia—especially around the full moon. (Yes, we went there. And no, I didn’t laugh it off.)
What stood out to me most was how she integrates muscle testing with symptom tracking and lab clues. Elevated eosinophils? Gut imbalances? It all gets filtered through a framework that asks: Is this the right time to treat this? Is this the right approach for this person?
That’s the kind of nuance missing in so much of modern care.
Emotional Healing: The Piece We All Avoid
Let’s be real: most patients want the protocol, the pills, the plan. And many providers—myself included—have leaned on those tools because they’re concrete. But what happens when none of it works?
We go deeper.
Dr. Kate and I spent a lot of time talking about how trauma, stress, and unprocessed emotions can manifest as physical illness. Your digestion isn’t just a function of what you eat—it’s a reflection of your nervous system, your environment, and your unspoken grief.
She uses a technique called NET (Neuro Emotional Technique) to help patients move energy, release old trauma, and reset their systems. And yes—she uses muscle testing to guide this work, too.
It reminded me how often I meet patients who have been on mold protocols, Lyme protocols, gut protocols… and they’re still stuck. Not because they’re doing it wrong—but because they haven’t addressed what their nervous system is holding onto.
As a nurse practitioner, I’ve seen the shift in real time. A patient sobs in the exam room, admits they’re in a toxic relationship, and suddenly their symptoms make sense. Emotional healing isn’t “extra.” It’s essential.
And it’s time we stop separating the mind from the body in medicine.
What Muscle Testing Reveals That Labs Don’t
One of the most eye-opening parts of our conversation was the reminder that labs only show what the body is able to express at that moment.
If the immune system is too suppressed to mount a reaction, bloodwork might look “normal”—even when something is very wrong.
That’s where muscle testing comes in. It offers a different kind of insight. Not better. Not magical. Just different.
It asks the body what it needs now. It helps prioritize the work. And it respects that healing isn’t linear, nor one-size-fits-all.
As a nurse practitioner working in functional medicine, I won’t be dropping my labs anytime soon. But I will be paying closer attention to what they don’t show—and asking how tools like muscle testing might help fill the gap.
The Power of Nervous System Regulation
We ended the episode talking about something I’ve come to believe deeply: you can’t out-supplement a dysregulated nervous system.
If you’re stuck in fight-or-flight, no parasite cleanse, no lab test, and no protocol will work the way it should.
Dr. Kate recommends tools like vagus nerve stimulation, binaural beats, and even daily gratitude to help patients reconnect with their bodies and calm their systems. She also reminds patients to thank their bodies—for breathing, for digesting, for showing up, even when things feel hard.
That practice alone? It’s powerful medicine.
Closing Thoughts: Stay Curious
This episode stretched me—and I’m glad it did.
Not everything we discussed will resonate with every provider or every patient. That’s okay. But when someone is still struggling after seeing five specialists and running ten labs, we owe it to them to think bigger.
Muscle testing isn’t a magic wand. But it is a tool. And tools are only as powerful as the hands that use them.
Whether you’re a nurse practitioner, a patient, or somewhere in between—if you’ve hit a wall, I encourage you to tune in.
You might not agree with everything.
But you’ll think differently.
And that’s where true disruption begins.