Onion nutrition and remedies is our next topic, to continue with the 'natural remedies you may already have in your kitchen' theme.  This humble little bulb has a long and fragrant history, much like its cousin, garlic.  In fact, these two have similar actions...and compliment one another in remedies and recipes alike.  You may already be aware of the many uses of onions in the kitchen, but onions, like garlic, have been interwoven in the history of medicine for thousands of years…as far back as can be documented in human history.

The Humble Onion: Nutrition Powerhouse
Like garlic, onions contain a long list of chemical compounds that activate and begin to create new compounds when cut.  Though they contain similar compounds, garlic contains a much higher concentration of the antibiotic compound allicin. 

Onions however, have a higher quercetin content.  Quercetin is arguably the most important compound in onions .  It is a strong antioxidant (a flavanol).  Antioxidents are important for slowing damage to body cells.  Many studies are now pointing to a flavonoids rich diet to decrease the risk of degenerative changes and diseases like cataracts, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.(1)(2)  Other compounds in onions are also useful for lowering cholesterol and blood pressure. (3)  Like garlic, onion is a food and a medicinal herb. The more onion nutrition you get in your diet on a regular basis, the better!

The Best of the Bunch

The darker the onion, the richer the flavanol and quercetin content on average. Red onions are the star players of onion nutrition levels, with yellow onions coming in next.  The amount of flavanoids depends on the growing methods and processing. (4) For the biggest health benefits, choose smaller dark (red) skinned onions, and fresh over processed onions whenever possible.  The peels have significantly more flavanols than the core.  I save the papery peelings, and toss them into my broth bag in the freezer, where they can add their flavor and concentrated nutrients to homemade broth! (1)

If the eye watering bothers you (and I weep with you) then I have found that an enclosed chopper is handy.  My Pampered Chef chopper is my favorite, but I was given one of these for Christmas, and I’m enjoying it as well!

Speaking of Cooking Onions…

Cooking onions will break down the sulfur and the strong smell/taste along with it, and roasting even develop the sugars in the onion and makes them mighty tasty!  Roasting will not harm the quercetin content, so you’ll still get those great anti-inflammatory properties…cooking in water will cause the flavanols and other onion nutrition to leach into the liquid, so soups are a great way to get the quercetin into your system.  Don’t bother with powdered or dehydrated onions, which have next to or none of that good onion nutrition left.  And don’t count on fried onions for health benefits (darn it)…they lose 1/3 of their potency in the fryer. (5) My favorite onion recipes are French Onion Soup, homemade broths and soups made from them, and my yummy french dressing made with fresh onion.  Yum!  I have used both of these when fighting coughs and colds. 

(Confession: I’m too much of a weenie to eat fresh onions on a salad.  Sorry Mom.)

Tune in tomorrow for the second half of this article on Click here: Onion Nutrition to read about onion remedies!

1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17997520  J Agric Food Chem.
2. http://www.onions-usa.org/ 
3. http://www.onions-usa.org/about/nutrition.php
4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11349895
5. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18759442