Sometimes, you can pinpoint exactly where you are feeling pain and that point does in fact represent where you are injured. But there are many instances in which you may feel pain or discomfort in one area of your body while the actual injury is in a different location. Read more
Is it true that the foods and beverages you consume cause your blood to become more alkaline or acidic?
Contrary to popular hype, the answer is: not to any significant degree.
The pH of your blood is tightly regulated by a complex system of buffers that are continuously at work to maintain a range of 7.35 to 7.45, which is slightly more alkaline than pure water. Read more
An all-too-common mistake that I've encountered over the years is taking acetaminophen (Tylenol) to address muscular and ligamentous strains and sprains.
If you take an appropriate dose of acetaminophen to relieve pain associated with a soft tissue injury, you'll likely be fine as long as you prioritize resting your body and not aggravating the injured area. Read more
The latest statistics on heart disease indicate that about a third of us will find out that we have heart disease just before we're about to die from it. Fortunately, modern medicine provides us with a number of tools to assess and monitor our cardiovascular health. And more importantly, we are aware of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Read more
Health enthusiasts are all too aware of the importance of choosing nutrient-rich foods for fuel. There's no denying that we need a wide variety of nutrients from healthy food to create energy to fuel our daily activities.
It's worth remembering that nutrients on their own do not create energy. Read more
The next time you experience a cold or the flu, remember this: rather than take conventional drugs to suppress uncomfortable symptoms, it's better for your health to allow the cold or flu to run its course while you get plenty of physical and emotional rest.
Conventional medicine and the pharmaceutical industry would have you believe that there is no "cure" for the common cold, that you should protect yourself against the flu with a vaccine that is laden with toxic chemicals, and that during the midst of a cold or flu, it is favorable to ease your discomfort with a variety of medications that can suppress your symptoms. Read more
To continue where we left off in last week's newsletter, I'd like to share what I've learned over the years about eating white rice and potatoes.
I've found that it's generally true that eating rice and potatoes decreases cellular sensitivity to insulin, leading to higher blood glucose and a tendency to carry extra adipose tissue. These tendencies seem to grow with age, and at this point, we don't fully understand the biochemistry behind this - we can only state that as we age, skeletal muscle cells usually become less sensitive to insulin while fat cells become more sensitive to insulin, which leads to more uptake of glucose into our fat cells, fuelling their growth. Read more
If you want to be relatively free of the fear of not knowing enough about your health that you have to rely on others to make big decisions for you, it's critical that you take some time to learn about how your body works. Read more
I'm often asked how to go about finding a family physician who emphasizes the importance of our daily choices and isn't quick to lean on prescription medications to address common health challenges. 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.