Turmeric, also called curcumin, has been used in Asian cookery for thousands of years. Powder ground from the dried root is an ingredient in curry. Turmeric is one of the cheaper spices and makes a vivid splash of color, so it gets heaped into low-market curry blends as fill. Not such a bad idea. In ongoing research on curcumin, biochemists in China report this month that curcumin downregulates homeobox gene NKX3.1 in prostate cancer cell LNCaP and could also dampen the androgen receptor’s sensitivity to this gene.

Independent studies have found that the Nkx3.1 homeobox gene has a key role in the prostate and may be implicated in start up of prostate cancer. Two M. D. Anderson researchers who are interested in curcumin’s anti-inflammatory effects and immune system enhancing activity suggest that “curcumin’s reported beneficial effects in arthritis, allergy, asthma, atherosclerosis, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and cancer might be due in part to its ability to modulate the immune system. Together, these findings warrant further consideration of curcumin as a therapy for immune disorders.”

Read more about Turmeric (Curcumin) as a cancer-fighting spice.

Zinc is high in the healthy prostate. And low levels of AZGP1 in the prostate at the time of surgery predicts for increased risk of developing metastatic cancer. But a recent study has found that high dietary zinc intake raises the risk of prostate cancer about one and a half times and raises the risk of advanced prostate cancer with a high Gleason score twofold and up to a factor of 3.59:

Compared with the lowest quintile, the OR [odds ratio] for the highest quintile was 1.56 (95% CI, 1.07-2.26), with a significant trend in risk. The trend in risk was significant for advanced cancers only, the OR being 2.02 (95% CI, 1.14-3.59) for prostate cancers with a high Gleason score. CONCLUSIONS: In this large study we found a direct association between high zinc intake and prostate cancer risk, particularly for advanced cancers. Our findings allowed us to exclude a favourable effect of zinc on prostate carcinogenesis. Dietary Zinc and Prostate Cancer Risk: A Case-Control Study from Italy. Eur Urol. 2007 Feb 5

If the above sounds confusing, it is. Studies of dietary zinc effects on prostate cancer “have been conflicting and confusing,” according to Professor Leslie Costello, who has studied zinc and prostate cancer for several years. But Costello is pro-zinc.

Quercetin, a natural antioxidant derived from plants is able to reduce illness and maintain mental performance in physically stressed test subjects, according to researchers at Appalachian State University. Found in red grapes, red wine, red apples, green tea and broccoli, quercetin now becomes as a result of the Appalachian research the first plant compound proven in a controlled clinical trial to reduce susceptibility to viral illnesses.