These two common foods could lower breast cancer risk, study suggests

Certain foods have previously been linked with a higher breast cancer risk, but a new report is highlighting a few that could lower your chances.

Researchers from the University at Buffalo and University of Puerto Rico recently conducted a study, published in the Nutrition and Cancer journal, to explore the link between breast cancer and two common kitchen staples: onions and garlic. They also took a close look at sofrito, a common condiment from Puerto Rican cuisine that includes onions and garlic as the main ingredients.

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For the assessment, they examined 660 Puerto Rican women from the Atabey Study of Breast Cancer. Half of the participants had breast cancer and half did not, and they were followed from 2008 to 2014.

After analyzing the results, they found those who ate onions, garlic and sofrito had a reduced risk of breast cancer. In fact, those who had sofrito more than once a day had a 67% decreased chance of being diagnosed with it, compared to women who never ate it.

"We found that among Puerto Rican women, the combined intake of onion and garlic, as well as sofrito, was associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer," lead author Gauri Desai said in a statement.

The team noted they specifically evaluated onions and garlic, because both foods are rich in flavonols and organosulfar compounds.

“These compounds show anticarcinogenic properties in humans, as well as in experimental animal studies,” senior author Lina Mu explained.

They looked at Puerto Ricans because they consume more onions and garlic than those in the United States and Europe. Puerto Rico also has lower rates of breast cancer, compared to the U.S. and Europe.

Want to learn more about the findings? Take a look here.

Cox Media Group