It’s curcumin, found in the spice turmeric, used to color curry sauce in India & Pakistan and rice in Hispanic cultures. Although the popular media has not highlighted this magnificent substance, the "official" organization of cancer scientists, the A.A.C.R.*, presented five reports on it (but also give credit to the folks at Rutgers U. who did it first.)

In one study, ** medical scientists found that curcumin inhibits the growth of pre-cancerous cells in the mouth. Another group*** discovered that it blocked the development of breast cancer that had been induced in animals by a carcinogen. In a third****, in combination with salicylate (as in aspirin) it possesses prevention activity against colon cancer. And yet another group***** concluded their study, "curcumin significantly suppresses colon (cancer) during its (promotion) stage."

DETAILS: At the risk of overburdening the reader, we add this by Walker et al., of the Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, OH 43210, who found that curcumin helps to prevent skin cancer--but please do stay out of prolonged exposure to the sun anyway. Sun blockers help, but not completely.

Curcumin may now be bought in pill form as well as in the spice turmeric. If you cook with the latter, unless you are especially careful it can stain your pots yellow. What it does to cancer cells is almost unmentionable.

Natural Food Ingredient Curcumin Protects the Body Bibliography

*Amer. Assn. for Cancer Res., 150 S. Independence Mall W., Phila., PA 19106-3483, at their 89th Annual Meeting, March-April l998.
**Khafis, Kim, Schantz & Sachs, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, N.Y.
***Singletary & MacDonald, Dept. of Food Science & Nutrition, U. of Ill. Urbana-Champaign, IL 61801
****Plummer, Verschoyle & Gescher, Centre for Mechanisms of Human Toxicity & the MRC Toxicology Unit, U. of Leicester, Leicester, UK.
*****Reddy, Kelloff et al., of the Amer. Health Found., Valhalla, N.Y. 10595, & the Nat'l Cancer Inst., Bethesda, Md.