Last Updated Wed, 06 Nov 2002 15:28:08

WASHINGTON - Onions, garlic and shallots appear to help Chinese men battle prostate cancer, according to a new study.

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute say men in China have the lowest rate of prostate cancer in the world and that may be due to what they eat.

The study is published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Scientists asked men from Shanghai how frequently they ate 122 food items — 238 men had prostate cancer and 471 didn't.

Researchers discovered the men who didn't have the disease ate a lot of vegetables from the allium food group — garlic, shallots and onions.

The results showed men who ate more than a third of an ounce a day from the allium food group were 50 per cent less likely to have prostate cancer.

"We checked on many food items and the allium food group stood out," said Ann Hsing, author of the study.

Hsing says Chinese dishes tend to have liberal amounts of garlic, scallions and onions. The study says it may not take much allium to help a person battle the disease — perhaps one clove of garlic a day.

Scallions — either shallots or green onions — seem to be the most protective.

The study found:

· Men who ate about a tenth of a ounce or more a day of scallions reduced their prostate cancer risk by 70 per cent

· With garlic, the risk was cut by 53 per cent

"The reduced risk of prostate cancer associated with allium vegetables was independent of body size," said the report.

Earlier studies have indicated eating tomatoes can also lower the risk of getting the disease. Italy, where tomato sauce and garlic are eaten in large quantities, has the lowest rate of prostate cancer in Europe.

Written by CBC News Online staff

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2002/11/06/Consumers/shallotsprostate_021106