Onions, garlic linked to lower cancer risks

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who flavor their diets with plenty of onions and garlic might have lower odds of several types of cancer, a new study suggests. In an analysis of eight studies from Italy and Switzerland, researchers found that older adults with the highest onion and garlic intakes had the lowest risks of a number of cancers -- including colon, ovarian and throat cancers.

The findings, which appear in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, are in line with some past research. But those studies were mainly conducted in China, and it is unclear if the results are different in Western countries.

Dietary habits are substantially different in China, with garlic intake, in particular, being far higher, Dr. Carlotta Galeone, the lead author of the new study, told Reuters Health.
These latest findings suggest the anti-cancer benefit of these vegetables extend to Western populations, according to Galeone, a researcher at the Mario Negri Institute of Pharmacologic Research in Milan, Italy.

They note, animal studies and lab experiments with cancer cells have found that certain compounds in onions and garlic may inhibit the growth of tumors. Sulfur compounds found in garlic and antioxidant flavonoids in onions are among the potentially protective substances.

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