Eating sofrito regularly may help breast cancer survivors. A population-based study in Puerto Rico, published this week in the journal Nutrition and Cancer, found that high consumption of onion and garlic was protective against breast cancer. Sofrito was the main part of the participants’ onion and garlic diet. This investigation follows previous studies that show a positive association between onion, garlic intake and risk of cancers. [1]
For this study, the researchers picked 314 primary breast cancer patients (age 30-79) from hospital records. 346 women from the same area were picked for the control group. These women had no history of cancer, except for nonmelanoma cancer. Consumption of onion and garlic included the locally popular sofrito. The participants had to fill a food frequency questionnaire on their daily intake.
The researchers took into account factors like age, BMI, education, and family history when studying the association between dietary intake and breast cancer. They found inverse associations for medium and high consumption when compared with low consumption. The results remained similar for both menopausal and non-menopausal women.
