The Skinny Kid

Black Raspberries May Help Prevent Esophageal Cancer

Black raspberries are highly effective in preventing the development of cancerous tumors, according to a study published in the October issue of Acta Pharmacologica Sinica published by Wiley-Blackwell.The black raspberries will, however, have no therapeutic value if the tumors have already developed.

Now, dip them in dark chocolate and serve them with a deep red wine and you may have the healthiest dessert ever.

SaukValley.com - Serving Dixon, Sterling & Rock Falls

It’s a pretty good bet that if you ate three pomegranates a day, you’d lose weight and live longer.For one thing, given how finicky and labor-intensive it is to eat a pomegranate, you wouldn’t have much time left to eat other foods.

Then there’s the growing body of research suggesting that the polyphenolic antioxidants found in pomegranates (and in red grapes, blueberries, cranberries) have beneficial health effects that include improving cardiac health and reducing the risk of cancer.

I’ve talked about some of those benefits before, and frequently drink pomegranate juice myself. But the article points out that the juice may not offer the same benefits in terms of weight control.

Check the nutrition labels, and you’ll see why. These are sugar bombs of the first order.

An 8-ounce serving of Pom? Thirty-four grams of sugar. Whole Foods’ 365 Everyday Value: 40 grams. Frutzzo: 32 grams.

By comparison, an 8-ounce serving of Coca-Cola contains 27 grams of sugar; 8 ounces of Mountain Dew, 31 grams.

More sugar than soda? Wow. I guess all that sugar is in the fruit as well, but as the article points out it is a little harder to get at. Another one of those cases where slowing down the pace of eating can have benefits of its own.

Avocado Nutrition » iFitandHealthy.com

As we grow increasingly health-conscious in our diets, avocado has stepped up to the plate as a choice replacement for fatty meats. Think ALT, hold the bacon. Think of all the veggie wraps teasing you away from those roast beef sandwiches.The small irony here is that avocado is one fat fruit. A typical, medium-sized variety provides 25 percent of your daily intake, if you eat the whole thing. Most of this is monounsaturated fat — the good kind — with no cholesterol and no sodium.

A little fat in the diet is necessary, and the good kind is a good way to get it. Avocado provides great texture and flavor to vegetarian dishes.