Onion and garlic may protect against breast cancer

 September 27, 2019

 New research has analyzed the relationship between the consumption of onions and garlic among women in Puerto Rico and suggests that they can significantly reduce the risk of breast cancer.

 

Reduced risk of cancer

Onions and garlic are part of the allium species, along with leeks, chives and hundreds of other species. They have been used for hundreds of years for various health problems. American researchers studied the relationship between eating garlic and onions in Puerto Rican sauce and breast cancer.

Several studies have already shown that eating garlic and onions can reduce the risk of colorectal, gastric and prostate cancer. However, researchers at the University of Buffalo have examined a population of women in Puerto Rico. Several reasons led them to choose this population. First, the city of Puerto Rico has a lower breast cancer rate than the United States, making it a large population to study. Second, a condiment called "sofrito", made mainly of garlic and onions, is a traditional Puerto Rican sauce, widely consumed throughout the Caribbean island.

 

Sofrito sauce associated with a 67% reduction in the risk of breast cancer

The researchers, who published the results of their discoveries in the journal Nutrition and Cancer, used hospital and clinic registers to identify 314 women aged 30 to 79 who had breast cancer between 2008 and 2014. The researchers also included 346 control participants chosen based on age and location. residence. The control participants had no history of cancer, except for skin cancer without melanoma. The researchers used a questionnaire to know the eating habits and the total consumption of onions and garlic, including the consumption of sofrito. The team considered factors such as age, family history, education, body mass index, smoking, etc.

Scientists have discovered an association between moderate and high consumption of onions and garlic and cases of breast cancer. They noted that in Puerto Rican women, the combined consumption of onions and garlic, as well as sofrito, being linked to the decrease in the risk of breast cancer. More specifically, the authors write that " consumption of sofrito, when examined alone, was inversely associated with breast cancer; in people who used sofrito more than once a day, the risk had decreased by 67%, compared to people who never used it ". Although the study is observational and cannot explain the mechanisms underlying the results, researchers suspect that flavonols and organosulfur compounds in abundance in onions and garlic are responsible for the anticancer effects.

 Stéphanie Haerts

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