Health Benefits of OnionsThe health benefits of onions have been known for over 5000 years and they've been used to cure virtually everything under the sun. In the last few years much research has gone into the health benefits of onions, and guess what? Studies after studies have confirmed that onions indeed possess many active compounds that have been proven beneficial for all sorts of health problem. On this page you'll find:
Onions Nutritional Highlights
Onions are a very good source of vitamin C, B6, biotin, chromium, calcium and dietary fibre. In addition, onions contain good amounts of folic acid and vitamin B1 and K. A 100 gram serving provides 44 calories, mostly as complex carbohydrate, with 1.4 grams of fibre. Like garlic, onions also have the enzyme alliinase, which is released when an onion is cut or crushed and it causes your eyes to water. They also contain flavonoids, which are pigments that give vegetables their colour. These compounds act as antioxidants, have a direct antitumor effect and have immune-enhancing properties. Onions, Rich Source of QuercitinThe onion is the richest dietary source of quercitin, a potent antioxidant (also in shallots, yellow and red onions only but not in white onions), which is specifically linked to inhibiting human stomach cancer.Quercitin in onions also thins the blood, lowers cholesterol, raises good-type HDL cholesterol (preferred dose: half a raw onion a day), wards off blood clots, fight asthma, chronic bronchitis, hay fever, diabetes, atherosclerosis and infections. It's also an anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, antiviral, thought to have diverse anti-cancer powers. Quercitin is also a sedative. So far, there is no better food source of quercitin than onion skins. Detoxify Your Body with OnionsOnions contain a variety of organic sulphur compounds that provide health benefits.Sulphur-containing amino acids are found as the proteins in onions as well as garlic and eggs. These specific amino acids are called methionine and cystine and, amongst other things, they are very good at detoxifying your body from heavy metals. In fact, they are able to latch on to mercury, cadmium and lead and escort them out of the body. Vitamin C, also contained in onions, is excellent at detoxifying the body and is effective in removing lead, arsenic and cadmium. So increasing consumption of onions can help the body to get rid of these harmful metals. Onions and the HeartTo help keep your blood free of clots, and make the most of the health benefits of onions, eat them both raw and cooked.Prescribing onions for heart patients is hardly routine among cardiologists. But Harvard's Dr. Victor Gurewich advises all his patients with coronary heart disease to eat onions daily. Here are some of the things that onions can do for your heart:
(Read more about the health benefits of onions for your heart) Cancer Prevention
One way the antioxidants in onions can protect you against cancer is by reducing the DNA damage in cells caused by free radicals, studies reveal.All onions and onion relatives (garlic, leeks, chives and scallions, or spring onions) are rich in organosulfur compounds shown to help prevent cancer in lab animals. In fact, an onion extract was found to destroy tumor cells in test tubes and to arrest tumor growth when tumor cells were implanted in rats. The onion extract was shown to be unusually nontoxic, since a dose as high as forty times that of the dose required to kill the tumor cells had no adverse effect on the host. In addition, shallots have been shown to exhibit significant activity against leukemia in mice. Other Health Benefits of OnionsOnions have also been shown to have a significant blood sugar-lowering action, even comparable to some prescription drugs.The active compound that seems to be responsible for lowering glucose works by competing with insulin for breakdown sites in the liver, thereby increasing the life span of insulin. Onions have historically been used to treat asthma, too. Its action in asthma is due to its ability to inhibit the production of compounds that cause the bronchial muscle to spasm and to relax bronchial muscle. Onions have potent antibacterial activity, destroying many disease-causing pathogens, including E. coli and salmonella. Quick Serving Suggestions:
The liberal use of onions and other bulbs of the same family, such as garlic, leeks and shallots, seems a particularly good idea considering their healing effects on the major degenerative diseases so common today, such as atherosclerosis, diabetes and cancer.So try to enjoy the health benefits of onions as much as you can and to include them in your diet. Here are some quick serving ideas:
Grow Your Own OnionsIf you want some tips and advice on growing your own onions you must have a look at this beautiful website:Backyard-Vegetable-Gardening.com : A how-to guide for growing vegetables in your backyard or containers; tips and advice about planting, maintaining, and harvesting your own vegetables, along with recipe ideas.
Next best thing to growing your own is to have organic onions delivered to your door. HAVE YOU JOINED AN ORGANIC VEG BOX SCHEME? Have a look at the boxes that Goodness Direct has to offer and have them delivered directly to your door. RELATED ARTICLE: Back to Home page from Health Benefits of Onions
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