Two points that I think all of us should keep in mind as we look to take care of our health as we age:
First, if we reach a point where we feel the benefits of taking a prescription medication outweigh the potential negative effects, it's important to monitor liver and kidney health.
Why?
Because virtually everything we put into our circulation, including prescription meds, has to be processed by our liver, and the bulk of any residual waste from said meds has to be filtered out of our system by our kidneys. Read more
I was introduced to the practice of taking cold showers for multiple health benefits by a good friend in graduate school more than 25 years ago. I still remember the shock of giving it a go for the first time in the middle of a harsh winter in a suburb of Chicago. My body immediately began hyperventilating as I summoned all of my resolve to take on that icy cold water from Lake Michigan. Beyond the initial moment of impact, what I remember most was a deep sense of satisfaction afterward for getting through the experience. Read more
Did you know that one of the reasons why laughing from the belly is good for your health is that doing so promotes a healthy lymphatic system? We're talking about true belly laughter, the kind that can make your stomach muscles cramp up and even cause you to shed tears of jolly good fun.
Not sure how this can be? Then let's take a look at your lymphatic system to understand the important connection between genuine belly laughter and your health.
Good overall health begins with a healthy gut. Chronic illness begins with breakdown in the gut.
This is where I typically start with clients looking to address any health challenge.
If you're looking for lasting improvement in any area of your health, it's best not to think of your body parts as being independent compartments. Every cell communicates with every other cell, not always directly, but via the fluids, hormones, and neurotransmitters that travel through the vast network of blood vessels and nerves that course through every part of you. And it all starts with your gut. Read more
With intermittent fasting becoming more popular by the month, I've been receiving questions from those who practice water-only fasting for many days or even a few weeks at a time as a way of supporting the body's natural cleansing and self-healing mechanisms. Read more
A short while ago, I spoke at length with a new client about the nature of her arthritis and how different it is from osteoarthritis (degenerative joint disease).
Our conversation made me realize that I should write up an entire piece discussing this, as I'm certain that there are some among our readership who don't have a clue why their joint pain is getting worse by the year despite giving their affected joints adequate rest. Read more
How do I know if my child has appendicitis? Few parents get through the journey of raising children without wondering this at some point.
In the late 90s, one of my early mentors, the late Dr. David Scott, showed me a whole stack of cases of diagnosed appendicitis that he had helped children and adults recover from through rest and water fasting. Given the wealth of his experience utilizing water fasting to help people overcome countless health challenges that allopathic medical care typically addresses via surgery and/or medication, I had good reason to wonder if excision was the best first line treatment for appendicitis.
Today, some within conventional medicine also question the decision to use excision as a first line treatment for appendicitis. Studies like "Antibiotics as first-line therapy for acute appendicitis: evidence for a change in clinical practice." are prompting some physicians to try a combination of intravenous and oral antibiotic therapy in mild to moderately severe cases of appendicitis where there is no clinical evidence of perforation. Read more
Over the years, I've found that many people don't seem to realize that the vast majority of malignancies aren't palpable and don't create symptoms for several years and sometimes decades. This is a critical point to understand, as our choices today are unmistakeably what determine our risk for cancer and most chronic diseases in the years ahead - even thirty, forty, fifty years ahead. Read more
After 21 years, we made the difficult decision to bring our catalogue to a close. To stay connected with Dr. Kim's writings, please feel free to subscribe for free here: Dr. Ben Kim on Substack. Sending best wishes and thanks to all.