
In the last few years much research has gone into the health benefits of onions.
Studies after studies have confirmed that onions indeed possess many active compounds that have been proven beneficial for all sorts of health problem.
Onions Nutritional Highlights
Onions are a very good source of vitamin C, B6, biotin, chromium, calcium and dietary fiber.
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 fiber.
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 color. These compounds act as antioxidants, have a direct anti tumor effect and have immune-enhancing properties.
Detoxify Your Body with Onions
Onions 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 Heart
To 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:
- Boost beneficial HDL cholesterol
- Thin the blood
- Retard blood clotting
- Lower total blood cholesterol
- Lower triglycerides
- Lower blood pressure