You’re lying if you haven’t cried while looking at them being chopped… Its onions apart from makes us cry onions also carry a bag with them that is packed with all the health benefits of onions and in this article we’ll learn the benefits and lot more.
Before we get into all the health benefits of onions let me give you a quick summary about onions. Onion is one of the most cultivated species of the genus Allium. The close relative of onion will be garlic, leek, Chinese onion, and chive. Onion’s scientific name is Allium cepa (1). Onion comes in different shapes, sizes, and colors from red, white, and yellow they get these colors from concentrical succulent leaves. These leaves form a layer around the onion that can be seen when cut in half.
While all the vegetable carries one or the other health benefit with them there are also such vegetables that offer certain unique benefits. Onions are vegetables of an Asian origin and it is being cultivated since 6000 B.C. From Asia onion took wings and spread throughout Europe and from there to America. Onions have many varieties according to their flavor, color, and shape.
Onion is consumed raw, cooked and as a garnish, most of the delicious food started to tastes better when accompanied with onions. Apart from being an ingredients onion also have many medical uses from the ancient times for treatment of headache, mouth sores, etc.
Nutritional value of onion
This nutritional value is according to serving of medium raw onion
- 44 calories
- 13g carbohydrates
- 1g protein
- <1g total fat
- <1g saturated fat
- 2.5g fiber
- 6g sugar
- 216mg potassium
- 15mg magnesium
- 11mg vitamin C
- 0.178mg vitamin B6
Now without further adieu lets get into benefits of onions
Benefits of onions
Whenever you think about food that’s good for your health fruits start to pop up in your mind but it is about time to give our appreciation to the underrated health benefits of onions.
- Packed with nutrients
Onions are nutritionally dense vegetables meaning that they are low in calories but high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals content. As onions are low in calories a 1 medium onion consists of 44 calories so they can help you lose weight when added to your diet. Onions provide a good dose of vitamin C and intake of vitamin C is important because it protects the cell against the damage caused by free radicals and vitamin C is a powerful anti-oxidant.
Onions are also rich in vitamin B and it helps in metabolism, red blood cell production, and nerve function. It is also rich in minerals called potassium. Potassium helps in fluid balance, kidney function and muscle contraction these all require potassium.
2. Heart Health
The heart is a very important part of our body and onion can help in improving your heart health. Onions have the power to lower the risk of heart diseases and the reason for that is because onions have anti-oxidants that help fight inflammation, lower cholesterol level which in turn lower’s the risk.
According to medical professionals eating onion is more heart health qualities than drinking red wine. Onion is also rich in flavonoids and thiosulfinates. Flavonoids lower your cholesterol level and thiosulfinates maintain the right consistency of blood.
3. Packed with Anti-oxidants
Another health benefits of onions would be that it is full of anti-oxidants and anti-oxidants are essential for your body because they make it inhibit oxidation, a process that’s lead to the cellular damage and it contributes to many diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and various heart diseases. Onions contain over 25 different types of varieties of anti-oxidants (2).
4. Helps control your blood sugar
If you’re diabetic don’t worry eating onions can help you with controlling your blood sugar level. A study conducted on 42 people suffering from type 2 diabetes that eating 100 grams of fresh red onions reduces your blood sugar level by 40 mg/dl after few hours. So add onions to your daily diet can be quite helpful if you’re suffering from diabetes.
5. Bone health
Dairy products come to our mind whenever we think about what’s good for our bone? but now it’s time to shine a light on onion because it may help you build strong bones. Calcium is responsible for bone health and according to the U.S department of agriculture, an average onion consists of 25 mg of calcium and a calcium-rich diet equals good bone health. Its also believed that onions can help you reduce oxidative stress and reduce bone loss which will help you prevent osteoporosis and will give a good boost to your bone health.
6. It can improve your sexual health
If you or your partner is suffering from erectile dysfunction then maybe eating onions can help the particular reason for that is the aphrodisiac nature of onions and according to a study published in the journal biomolecules, eating onions can help you with that and that study also shows that it can help increasing testosterone level in men.
7. Good for your gut
Onions are rich in fiber and probiotics (non-digestible type of fiber) which are the good bacteria that your gut needs to benefits your digestive health and also improve your immune system. Probiotics can help you with the better absorption of the minerals like calcium, which in turn will improve your bone health. Bacteria in our guts feed on probiotics and creates short-chain fatty acids. Studies show that this short-chain fatty acid strengthens gut health, boosts immunity, and enhances digestion (3).
Some people find it hard on their gut to eat a raw onion but there is more than one way to eat onion. Start with cooked onion and then work your way to raw onions. The digestive system plays a very important role in your overall well-being so a healthy gut equals a healthy you.
8. prevention of cancer
Onions belong to the species of the Allium genus and some studies have linked them in helping you lower the risk of cancer like stomach and colorectal. According to the U.S national library of medicine, they say that onions can also prevent the growth of the tumor.
Garlic also belongs to the Allium genus so it is safe to say eating Allium genus vegetables can also help in the prevention of certain cancer. Apart from such great benefits, there are many more benefits of eating onion.
9. Helps with breathing
Yes, you read it right. I know onions stink how can they help with our breathing it doesn’t sound right but it is true. Onions can help with our breathing especially for a person suffering from asthma. Onion contains quercetin (A type of dietary flavonoid) it is an anti-oxidants that can help reduce histamine, which is what makes you feel itchy, cry, and sneeze.
Onions can also promote an anti-inflammatory response in our body. According to the study done in pharmaceutical science consumption of onion has a relaxing effect on the muscle of the isolated trachea which is good for asthma patients as it helps them breathe easily.
10. Oral health
Onions can help you improve your pearly shine smile. Now, most people hate eating raw onions but eating raw onion for 2 to 3 minutes that way you will get rid of the bacteria that cause tooth decay and as well as strengthen your teeth. All thanks to the vitamin C content of the onion.
11. Easy addition to your diet
We all know onions make our food taste better and so that makes it easy for us to add onion into our diet. As onion is low in calories it can help you lose weight along with being low in calories don’t forget about the above benefits of onion. Onions can go along with anything for example with salad or with guacamole.
Conclusion
Now you know all the health benefits of onions. Onion is truly a unique vegetable and there are many like onions. If you want you can check out my recent articles about the benefits of tamarind or the Benefits of raisins and many other ways to keep yourself healthy like developing healthy habits or types of walk and much more. If you’re trying to lose weight keep a lookout for the food that can make you fat and welcome filling foods that will help you lose weight. Subscribe and get weekly health benefits and tips delivered directly to your inbox.