An apple a day might help keep the oncologist away

Have an apple

An apple a day might help keep the oncologist away. A Cornell University researcher reports that fresh apple extracts significantly inhibited breast tumors in rats - and the higher the dose, the greater the effect. (The rats were fed the equivalent of one, three or six apples a day.)

"We not only observed that the treated animals had fewer tumors, but the tumors were smaller, less malignant and grew more slowly compared with the tumors in the untreated rats," said Rui Hai Liu, an associate professor of food science.

The study highlights the importance of cancer-fighting phytochemicals, or flavonoids, found in fruits and vegetables. Americans get more phytochemicals from apples than from any other fruit.

A boost for beets

President Obama is doing for beets what one of his predecessors, former President George H.W. Bush did for broccoli. Nobody can make the commander-in-chief eat beets, but the health-conscious Obama ought to reconsider.

Beets made Men's Health magazines list of the "The Top 10 Best Foods You Aren't Eating," along with Swiss chard, cinnamon, pomegranate juice and dried plums (aka prunes). Beets are good sources of folate and other inflammation-fighting compounds, and the deep red pigments are potent cancer fighters, at least in mice.

Beets go nicely in a salad with goat cheese and heart-healthy walnuts, which you'd think would appeal to the First Foodie.

Skip the soda

On the other hand, a couple of sodas per day might lead you to another doctor you'd rather not be seeing - the kidney specialist.

Women who drink two or more cans of pop per day are nearly twice as likely to show early signs of kidney disease, according to a recent study at Loyola University Health System in Maywood. There was no elevated risk for men or for people who drink diet soda, lead researcher David Shoham said.

More studies are needed to determine whether the increased risk is because of high fructose corn syrup, the sweetener used in most sodas; a diet that's generally too high in sugar; or other causes. An unrelated study published in the journal Environmental Health found detectable levels of mercury in nine of 20 commercial samples of high fructose corn syrup tested.