Dr. Ben Kim's blog

When my wife and I were first dating, I remember being very pleased with myself for making all sorts of healthy and tasty meals for her. My goal was to make healthy meals so delicious that she wouldn’t have a problem eating the way I did. Thick and hearty leek, chickpea and potato soup, freshly made hummus and ripe tomatoes over toasted whole grain baguettes, my famous guacamole with baked corn chips, and of course, a fresh, colorful salad with all sorts of raw vegetables with a creamy tahini dressing – this was a typical meal! Read more

There is nothing quite like seeing the relief and happiness that people experience as they recover from chronic acne. I will never forget one gentleman – a professor at a top naturopathic school – whose chronic acne completely disappeared within two weeks of following some of the suggestions below. Tears filled his eyes as he spoke about the many years he suffered with acne despite trying numerous natural and conventional remedies. Read more

If you aren't familiar with quinoa (pronounced keen-wa), you're in for a treat. Quinoa is a light and fluffy whole grain that goes with just about anything. It's power packed with protein, iron, potassium, and several B vitamins. It's also a good source of magnesium, zinc, copper, and manganese, and has some folic acid.

Ingredients:

1 cup of quinoa
1/2 cucumber, peeled and chopped into bite-size pieces
1 tomato, chopped into bite size pieces
1 avocado, seeded, scooped out, and cut into small pieces
Juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon
Sea salt, to taste Read more

One of the most important steps that you can take to improve your health, regardless of your current situation and health challenges, is to make sure that your intestines have plenty of friendly bacteria.

Incredibly, you have more bacteria and other microorganisms living in your digestive passageway than you have cells in your entire body. These microorganisms total approximately 100 trillion, and collectively weigh between three to five pounds in the average adult. Read more

For this recipe, you will need to soak 3 cups of dry black beans in water overnight. After soaking, cook beans in water over medium heat for 1-2 hours or until tender.

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked black beans
2 cups vegetable broth or water
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 rib of celery, finely chopped
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced or pressed
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
Handful of fresh parsley, chopped
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste Read more

Do you know what it's like to have a sudden, sharp pain in your back that you know is going to lead to several days of terrible pain and stiffness? I am very familiar with this scenario from my own experiences with back pain and from my work as a chiropractor for many years.

If you know what this feels like, then you might find what I have to say next to be surprising.

The best thing that you can do for yourself as soon as you feel that familiar spasm or pull in your back muscles is the following:

Nothing. Read more

Ingredients:

1 cup of roughly chopped fresh basil leaves
2/3 cup of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons of water
2 teaspoons of unpasteurized or raw honey
3 1/2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 clove of garlic, pressed or finely minced
Sea salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Blend all ingredients in a blender or food processor until creamy. Use immediately or store in an air-tight container for up to two weeks in the refrigerator. Read more

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons of vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon juice
1-3 teaspoons of raw, unheated honey, to taste
1 teaspoon of mustard
Sea salt, to taste

Directions:

Use a fork to wisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Pour over a vegetable salad in a large bowl - romaine lettuce, celery, and tomatoes will do. Toss to evenly coat vegetables with dressing and enjoy this super simple, yummy, and healthy dressing. Read more

To view a pictorial version of this recipe, have a look here:

How to Make Chickpea, Leek, and Potato Soup

Ingredients: Read more

Take a look at the keyboard that sits in front of you. Is it on an angle that is causing your wrists to be an inch or two lower than the rest of your hands? If your hands are extended like this on a regular basis, you are at risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome.

Here are two simple measures that you can take to avoid this: Read more