If you don’t have onions included in your diet, you should think twice about your decision. Studies have shown that onions lower the risk of cancer, blood pressure, inflammation and heart disease, among others.
Health Benefits of Onions
Onions, leeks, shallots and scallions contain numerous compounds that protect you from the abovementioned diseases.
An important family of compounds is the flavonoids , proven to have powerful antioxidant powers . Flavonoids help to rid your system of free radicals.
An important flavonoid in the family is quercetin, which helps reduce the risk heart disease. Quercetin helps prevent lipoprotein in cholesterol from oxidizing when it coats the artery walls. It also prevents blood platelets from sticking together giving rise to harmful clots.
Why do Onions Make You Cry?
Then you have another family of protective compounds called the sulfur compounds. These are the compounds that draw tears from your eyes when you peel onions. They perform a useful function in your system by increasing the levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, which actually benefits your system. They also help prevent plaque from sticking to your artery walls.
These compounds also help make your blood thinner and maintain your blood pressure at a safe level. They help keep allergic and inflammatory responses like that in asthma cases. The abovementioned protective compounds are also found in shallots, scallions, leeks and other vegetables in the allium family.
Additional Benefits of the Onion
Apart from the protective compounds, onions also have important nutrients beneficial to your health. Scallions, or spring onions, have high contents of folate and vitamin C .
Shallots, on the other hand, is a good source of vitamin A which helps prevent vision problems like cataracts and night blindness associated with aging. A tablespoon of chopped shallots, for instance would provide you with 600 international units of vitamin A.
Partaking of a medium-sized onion on a daily basis should provide you with the necessary protection and health benefits.
To derive maximum benefits from the sulphur compounds, onions should ideally be eaten raw. Cooking robs onions of its powers of allicin, a useful bioactive nutrient.
According to information provided by the National Centre for Complementary Medicine, raw onion has the ability to fight stomach cancer and prevent blood clots.
More Onion Facts
Onions also offer quick cures for common ailments. Crushed raw onions when applied to the forehead provide relief from headaches.
Red small onions make good expectorant. Slice them and soak in pure honey for two or three days. They provide quick relief from stubborn coughs.
If you experience a burning sensation while passing urine, onion can help alleviate the problem if there’s presence of a staphylococcus-induced infection. If there’s the problem of urine retention, then mixing onion with sugar would provide quick relief in most cases.
