Curry spice may protect you from cancer

The news will please any curry lover - spicy food may protect against cancer.

Asian spice turmeric, which gives dishes their distinctive yellow colour, can protect the body against damage that leads to cancers, in particular leukaemia.

The research is being presented at the first international conference to be held on the causes of childhood leukaemia today.

Increasingly, scientists believe the lower rates of leukaemia in Asia could be due to the differences in diet.

The conference, hosted by Children with Leukaemia, heard today that because turmeric is an anti-oxidant it can protect against environmental chemicals that damage DNA, leading to cancer.

Turmeric is also said to slow the rate of degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and to have anti-inflammatory properties that could help with bowel condition Crohn's.

Turmeric can also be bought in capsules from health shops.

Professor Moolky Nagabhushan of Chicago's Loyola University Medical Centre told the conference turmeric blocks the harmful effects of cigarette smoke, protects against chromosome damage and prevents dangerous chemicals forming after eating processed food.

Curcumin, the compound that gives turmeric its yellow colour, has been shown to stop leukaemia cells multiplying.

Professor Nagabhushan said the risk factors leading to childhood leukaemia were complex and included pre- or post-natal exposure to radiation, pollution or some chemotherapeutic drugs. But he added: "Our studies show that turmeric - and curcumin - in the diet mitigate the effects of some of these risk factors."

In another study presented today, California doctors found that children who regularly eat oranges and bananas as toddlers had lower risks of leukaemia. Oranges contain vitamin C, an antioxidant that may prevent DNA damage, and bananas are rich in potassium, thought to have anti-carcinogenic potential.