Onions have been used for ages to add flavor, texture and color to endless dishes and meals. Chopped, sliced, diced or minced, they can take a simple dish and make it shine. They come in all kinds of varieties, each with its unique taste and scent. There is hardly anyone who doesn’t enjoy the heavenly scent of onions sautéing! But there is so much more to the onion than just taste and scent: it is packed with nutritional benefits that run the gamut from simple healing properties all the way to powerful cancer and heart disease fighter. (1)
One cannot truly appreciate the power of the mighty onion without a quick peek into the history behind this simple vegetable. Interesting folklore about the onion includes: (2)
- Alexander the Great made his troops eat onions because he thought it improved their vitality.
- The Romans consumed onions because they thought the onion gave them courage and strength.
- Captain James Cook is rumored to have refused to sail a voyage until each of his crew members at 20 pounds of onions (to prevent scurvy)!
- In more modern times, the Russians used onions as an antiseptic treatment for battle wounds.
Clearly onions have been considered powerful for centuries, and while their powers were quite exaggerated in ancient times, modern science is proving that onions have some significantly powerful health-boosting properties.
Studies show that onions can help prevent and manage cancer
Onions have been researched extensively for their health properties, and they have been shown to have powerful anti-cancer benefits.
A 2006 study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition set out to find out what, if any, benefits onions and garlic (allium vegetables) had in regard to human cancer. They concluded that there is “an inverse association between the frequency of use of allium vegetables and the risk of several common cancers. Allium vegetables are a favorable correlate of cancer risk in Europe.” (3)
Additionally, a study of French women published in the European Journal of Epidemiology showed that the higher the amount of onions and garlic consumed, the lower the risk of breast cancer. (4)
Furthermore, studies show that onions are effective in the prevention stomach cancer (5, 6).
The mighty onion can help keep your heart healthy
The news that red wine plays a role in heart protection has been celebrated by wine enthusiasts, and rightly so; however, studies show that onions beat out red wine by a huge margin when it comes to cardiovascular health. It has been proven to lower cholesterol, strengthen blood vessels and lower blood pressure. (7)
A recent meta-analysis reviewing dietary habits of more than 100,000 individuals revealed that consumption of onions can reduce the risk of heart disease by 20 percent. (8)
Additionally, according to Dr. Victor Gurewich, director of the Tufts University Vascular Laboratory at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Boston, eating just half a medium sized onion per day can increase HDL cholesterol (the kind that indicates good heart health) a minimum of 30 percent in three out of four heart patients. (9)
No matter how you slice or dice them, onions have been proven – repeatedly – to dramatically improve your health, while decreasing your risk of cancer and heart disease.
If all other avenues have been exhausted, the information shared above could be very beneficial. Don’t believe all studies though. Please trust your own judgment, as we are authors and researchers sharing and citing studies that we find online that appear very hopeful, and we are connecting dots where we see them. We can’t be sure any of it will work for anyone. In fact we cannot ensure that any of the research is not financially or otherwise biased. Because of course, you can find studies supporting mainstream treatments as well.
Perhaps it’s more our own belief than anything else that helps “cure” any aliments anyway. If this notion seems reasonable to you, you can dive deeper into that idea here.
Maybe just choose the path of least resistance for YOU. But know for certain… we care about people, and we share this information for the exciting possibilities of a better life for the people we love and care about, which includes you. By emerging yourself into positive news on the topic of health, we feel that the answer that speaks to you the most will surface. While we don’t believe that an apple a day will keep the doctor away, we haven’t tested that theory either. Best of luck in your journey towards optimal health!
Raw Michelle is a natural health blogger and researcher, sharing her passions with others, using the Internet as her medium. She discusses topics in a straight forward way in hopes to help people from all walks of life achieve optimal health and well-being. SUBSCRIBE here to get more from Raw Michelle!
Sources for this article include:
(1) www.lef.org
(2) www.vidaliaonion.org
(3) www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
(4) www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
(5) www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
(6) www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
(7) www.foxnews.com
(8) www.superfoodsrx.com
(9) www.foods-healing-power.com
( http://www.rawfoodhealthwatch.com/ )
