By Jean Sumner
We use onions to flavor so many dishes but have you ever thought about onions as a food that is really beneficial? Well it is time to start thinking that way because onions are loaded with nutritional benefits.
Onions are a very good source of vitamin C, B6, biotin, chromium, calcium and dietary fiber. In addition, they contain good amounts of folic acid and vitamin B1 and K. A 100 gram serving provides 44 calories, mostly as complex carbohydrate. Onions 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. Onions contain a large amount of sulfur and are especially good for the liver. As a sulfur food, they mix best with proteins, as they stimulate the action of the amino acids to the brain and nervous system.
The skin of the onion contains quercetin. The onion is the richest dietary source of quercetin, a potent antioxidant flavonoid. Quercetin is only found in red and yellow onions. Quercetin has been shown to thin the blood, lower cholesterol, raise good-type HDL cholesterol, ward off blood clots, fight asthma, chronic bronchitis, hay fever, diabetes, atherosclerosis and infections and is specifically linked to inhibiting human stomach cancer. It’s also an anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, antiviral, thought to have diverse anti-cancer powers. Quercetin is also a sedative. So far, there is no better food source of quercetin than onion skins.
Sulfur-containing amino acids are found in onions. These specific amino acids are called methionine and cysteine and, among 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.