Your Health

HOLD YOUR NOSE Garlic is supposed to ward off a wide range of ailments from heart disease to infections. Researchers may be able to add one more: prostate cancer. Men in China who reported eating at least one-third of an ounce a day from the allium food group (which also includes onions, shallots and leeks) cut their risk of developing the cancer in half.

THE CATCH You may love fish, but California researchers report new evidence that consuming large species such as tuna and swordfish even once a week may be linked to fatigue, headaches, inability to concentrate and hair loss, all symptoms of low-level mercury poisoning. In a study of 123 fish-loving subjects, the researchers found that 89% had blood levels of methylmercury that exceeded the EPA standard by as much as 10 times. The problem with big fish is that they're at the top of the pelagic food chain, accumulating mercury from smaller fry and then passing it on to you. The good news: if you stop eating seafood or limit your consumption to low-metal varieties such as tilapia and sole, your body will rid itself of the mercury — though it may take years. --BY Janice M. Horowitz

Sources: Journal of the National Cancer Institute; Environmental Health Perspectives