Raw onions can certainly cause tears when they are cut but are incredibly healthy to eat. Onions offer way superior benefits for all the hype about “superfoods” like green tea or pomegranates. There is a French paradox referring to why few French people have heart disease despite their diet high in saturated fat. This has something to do with onions…

Onion is a versatile ingredient used to flavor dishes from all cultures across the world. In this post, we are going to discover the incredible benefits of eating onion every day.

Better cardiovascular health

Onions provide a healthy dose of vitamin C, folic acid, fiber, calcium, and iron. What makes onions unique is the antioxidant quercetin, which reduces oxidative damage to our cells and tissue.

Quercetin helps in controlling blood pressure and keeps arteries elastic and soft. It is believed to lower cholesterol levels in people at risk of cardiovascular problems.

Enhanced immune function

Quercetin is excellent for blocking inflammatory compounds. As far as immune function is concerned, the quercetin in onions is boosted from the selenium content. There is a greater concentration of selenium in onions than in other foods.

Selenium is known to stimulate immune function and reduce inflammation while also preventing excessive immune response. Inflammation is a natural cause – it is an immune response that isolates sick areas of your body from healthy tissue. Still, too much inflammation causes a host of painful and dangerous conditions. And onions appear to help keep immune function in balance.

Allergy relief

Quercetin can block certain inflammatory and allergy-causing compounds. It is also beneficial for seasonal allergies. Rather than running straight for an over-the-counter tablet, try eating some onion to stop the release of histamines.

Histamines are the cause of seasonal allergies like itchy eyes, scratchy throat, and runny nose.

Lesser food poisoning risk

Onions have some antibacterial compounds. The juice of onion can kill microorganisms that cause food poisoning. Therefore, adding onions to your meals means that you have more chances of not getting sick.

Lower cancer risk

If you eat raw onions regularly, you will be able to detoxify the carcinogens you get in your diet. Onions have organosulfur compounds that can stop cancer-causing agents from metabolizing dangerously. Combining onions with turmeric can also create a synergistic effect that reduces the ability of cancer to hijack the intestines, hence significantly lowering the risk of colon cancer.

Lower diabetes risk

Eating onions can increase your insulin. Insulin is required to process the sugar in your food. The allyl propyl disulfide in onions takes up available spots in the liver, rendering some insulin inactive. Consequently, more insulin remains free to control blood sugar levels.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when glucose is not effectively processed by insulin, generally because of too much sugar. Eating onions every day ensures that there is enough insulin to do the job. But still, you should always watch out for your sugar intake!

Improved mood and sleep

When the body breaks down proteins, an amino acid called homocysteine is produced. Too much reduces hormones like norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin – the trio that manages mood stabilization, good feelings, appetite, and sleep. Onions are rich in folate, which prevents the building up of homocysteine in excess.

When you eat onions daily, you get enough folate to reduce the incidence and severity of depression. Thus, with a regular intake of folate through onions, you will be able to reduce fatigue, stress and get better sleep. Onions may just keep you feeling awesome both mentally and physically.

Reduced risk of blood clots

When there is an injury, your blood naturally clots around the site, but clots that form within veins and arteries block the blood flow and can be deadly.

Rutin is another compound found in onions. It has been found that rutin wards off the development of clots.

Clots formed in arteries have plenty of platelets, while those formed in veins are high in fibrin. Rutin can attack both types of the clot. More research is necessary to confirm that, but rutin may someday become an inexpensive medicine to cure blood clots. Suppose you are usually prone to tiny/mild/major injuries (for instance, a football player or a woodcutter). In that case, my advice for you here is to keep eating onions as you may recover faster.

Eat onions every day and stay healthy.

The easiest way to get all of the nutritional benefits from onions is to eat them raw. But that may be difficult for most people! As they may not like the taste nor the odor! You can still receive the various health benefits by eating them cooked. Yeah, the benefits are reduced by the application of heat, but not entirely. Most of the savory dishes you ever had, contain onions. It is a natural food flavor enhancer, so you won’t have to use the chemical – monosodium glutamate (for example, Ajinomoto) to improve the taste of your dishes. One way or another, if you eat raw onions every day, you will be making an intelligent choice for your health.