Dr. Ben Kim's blog

From Our Mailbag:

Dear Dr. Kim,

I have been receiving your weekly newsletter for several months now and would like to ask you for some advice on choosing a career in the natural health field. I can't decide between chiropractic, naturopathy, traditional medicine, and oriental medicine.

I know you are busy, but if possible, could you share your thoughts on what you would choose if you were to do it all over again? Read more

Ingredients:

2 red beets, peeled and diced
1 Yukon gold potato, chopped into bite-size cubes
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 rib of celery, diced
1 cup of shredded green cabbage
4 cups of vegetable broth or organic chicken broth
1 cup of crushed tomatoes
Fresh dill (optional)
Sea salt and ground black pepper (optional)

Directions: Read more

Energy drinks like Red Bull, Sobe "No Fear," and Red Devil are all the rage these days, especially among teenagers and young adults.

According to a study published in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology, these and other drinks that promise to boost your metabolism and energy can contain three to four times as much caffeine as a regular soda.

These drinks can make you feel more alert and energetic in the short term, but drinking them on a regular basis can and will hurt your health over the long term. Read more

Exposure to household toxins is linked to just about every disease that we know of, most notably cancer. Numerous animal studies have linked many of the more than 24,000 toxins that exist in our environment to negative health effects on the following systems: Read more

A recent study led by the Mayo Clinic and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that people with rheumatoid arthritis who take Humira or Remicade have three times the risk of developing several types of cancer and two times the risk of developing serious infections compared to people who don't take these drugs. Read more

Ingredients:

* 4 portobello mushrooms, sliced
* 1 cup of shiitake mushrooms, chopped
* 2 onions, chopped
* 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
* 1 cup of brown rice
* 2 cups of water
* 2 organic eggs
* 1 block of firm tofu
* 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
* 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
* 2 tablespoons of miso paste Read more

Ingredients:

1-2 fennel bulbs
2-3 leeks, sliced into 3 inch lengths
1-2 Yukon gold potatoes, cut into bite-size pieces
2 red onions, cut into 1/3 inch rings
1 lemon
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and ground black pepper (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.

Cut fennel bulbs into quarters. Place fennel bulbs, sliced leeks, and Yukon gold potato pieces on a baking tray or roasting tin, cut side up. Read more

From our mailbag:

I was all set to buy a juicer but then I read that drinking blended fruits and vegetables is healthier than drinking their juiced counterparts because with blended drinks, you get naturally occurring fiber that you lose out with juices.

Could you please explain which is better: juicing or blending?

***

There are health benefits to fruit and vegetable juices made with both methods. Read more

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported late last week that there has been a 19 percent increase in the number of people who have picked up a dangerous eye infection, a condition called Fesarium keratitis. Read more