Dr. Ben Kim's blog

If you enjoy adding cream to healthy pies, cakes, berries, cereals, and tea, give this sweet cashew cream recipe a try - it's rich in healthy monounsaturated fatty acids, which are good for keeping your heart and blood vessels healthy.

Cashew cream is also naturally rich in magnesium, which your body needs to keep your bones, teeth, muscles, and nervous system optimally healthy.

If you don't need your cream to be too sweet, simply omit the honey, or use less than what's listed below. Quality cashews have a natural hint of sweetness that makes pure cashew cream quite pleasant on its own. Read more

Until a few months ago, I was under the impression that coconut oil and coconut butter are the same thing. So I was one surprised chap when I tried a coconut butter product made by a company called Artisana.

I now know that true coconut butter is made by carefully blending whole coconut meat - when done properly, the result is a sweet, creamy butter that has the wonderful fragrance of coconut oil, along with healthy protein and fiber that naturally occur in coconut. Read more

A simple and effective way to lower your risk of developing cancer is to eat cabbage on a regular basis.

Cabbage belongs to the Cruciferous family of vegetables - other prominent Cruciferous vegetables include kale, Bok Choy, cauliflower, and broccoli.

Phytonutrients found in cabbage and other Cruciferous vegetables can stimulate the production of enzymes that can detoxify your cells, leading to efficient elimination of free radicals, toxins, and potential carcinogens from your body. Read more

Two groups of nutrients that are essential to having healthy skin are vitamin A and healthy fatty acids.

Vitamin A can be called a "group" of nutrients because there's straight vitamin A, found in animal foods, and there's carotenoids, which are plant-based nutrients that can be converted to vitamin A in healthy individuals. Read more

A study that appears in the October 1, 2008 edition of the journal Cancer indicates that breastfeeding for at least six months may decrease a woman's risk of developing "triple negative" breast cancer, thought to be the most aggressive form of breast cancer.

Triple negative cancer is more common among younger women, and a number of published studies indicate that triple negative breast cancer is more likely to recur when compared to other forms of breast cancer. Read more

In February of 2008, we started a fund raising campaign for a special, not-for-profit organization called Operation Shanti. Located in Mysore, India, the folks who run Operation Shanti are dedicated to empowering the poorest and neediest children and elderly people in their area.

As reported in our first update following the launch of our campaign, our readers responded spectacularly, surpassing our goal within a week. Read more

Many years ago, a patient of mine who had traveled extensively around the world told me about a group of people he encountered that ate red beets, carrots, and sweet potatoes almost every day to help protect their skin against sunburn. Read more

What do toe pain, mid-foot pain, heel pain, ankle pain, knee pain, hip pain, lower back pain, mid-back pain, upper back pain, and headaches all have in common?

You guessed it - they can all be caused by wearing high heels on a regular basis. Read more

The headline is correct - brain tumors now claim more children's lives than any other type of cancer. There aren't any published studies in the medical literature that all epidemiologists can point to and offer as proof that regular use of a cell phone can increase a child's risk of developing a brain tumor. And there never will be such a study, as definitive proof in the research world requires a double-blind, randomized control trial; how can you conduct a trial in which you ask a group of children to use a cell phone for 'x' number of hours per week? Read more

Koreans have long enjoyed the health benefits of seaweed soup, called mi-yuk gook.

In Korean culture, seaweed soup is considered a must for pregnant and nursing women, as eating seaweed is an effective way of stimulating healthy breast milk production.

Seaweed is also given to students, usually without fail on the night before an important exam, as seaweed is believed to support optimal brain function. Read more