Food and dietary supplement manufacturers can make certain health claims on product labels. Some of those claims can be kind of tricky - don't be fooled by food label claims. Read: Don't Let Tricky Food Label Claims Fool You

Raspberry ketone is an aromatic compound found in red raspberries. It's extracted and used in perfumes and cosmetics and it's also used as a flavoring agent in some fruit-flavored foods. Apparently now it's being touted as a semi-magical weight loss aid. But does it work? Who knows - I can't find any clinical studies for it.

There are some studies on mice that were given raspberry ketone and it appeared to prevent weight gain when the little rodents were fed high-fat diets. Apparently the anti-obesity effects were due to stimulation of lipolysis (which is how the body breaks down fat in fat cells called adipocytes) in both regular fat tissue and brown fat tissue. It also suppressed release of pancreatic lipase, a digestive enzyme needed to break down dietary fats so they can be absorbed through the small intestinal wall.

But this research was done on mice. We're humans, not rodents. We have different physiology and different emotional reasons for eating (or not eating) fats and other foods. So just because mice didn't get fat while being given raspberry ketone doesn't mean it will work the same way in humans. To know if raspberry ketone can work in humans requires clinical research and I can't find any research on people.

So will it hurt you to take raspberry ketone supplements? Probably not. Will it help you lose weight? I don't know, but I doubt it. More than likely it will just make your wallet a little lighter.

Tomatoes are the kind of superfood I really like. They're easy to find, easy to prepare and cooking or processing them doesn't reduce the health benefit you may get from eating them. Now, I don't consider a blob of ketchup to be a vegetable and I realize you can find tomato sauce buried in some unhealthy places, like under layers of cheese and sausage on a pizza, but it's always nice when a superfood is something simple. Tomatoes are proof that superfoods don't have to be exotic or difficult to find.

Today I wrote about the health benefits of tomatoes, and now I think I'm craving a tomato, basil and mozzarella cheese salad. Read: Health Benefits of Tomatoes

Do you like tomatoes? What's your favorite kind of tomato and how do like to eat them?

Good nutrition isn't just about the foods you eat, it also includes the beverages you drink. Water is a good beverage. It doesn't have any calories or artificial colorings or flavorings and your body needs it. It's also cheap when you get it from the tap. Maybe you prefer bottled water or you use a filtered pitcher to avoid impurities or you prefer the flavor.

I don't like to drink water. I don't like the way it tastes. A lot of people think that's weird because water doesn't really have any flavor. I was a picky eater as a kid so maybe that's related, I don't know. Anyway, if you're like me you can still get enough water by choosing other beverages or flavoring your water with a slice of lemon or lime. I also like sparkling water. You can choose flavored waters too. Just because they're flavored doesn't change the fact that they're almost completely water.

Common Questions About Water

• How much water do you need every day?
• Why do you need water?
• Will drinking water help you lose weight?
• Can you drink too much water?
• What foods and beverages are good sources of water?
• Will reboiling water cause cancer?