Food Facts (12)
Every month a new interesting food fact will be listed for your health and convenience. There will be nutriental information, facts and health benefits about each special food. This issue we have Onions.
Onions
The allium plant grows about 2 feet tall and bears an underground globular stem, which consists of modified leaves arranged in whorls. There are many cultivars onions grown around the world. The average crop takes about 3 to 4 months time. Top greens or scallions and flower heads are also eaten all around the world.
The sharp, pungent smell of onions is due to its sulfur compound allyl propyl disulphide. Spanish red onions are generally less strongly flavored than white or brown, which makes them ideal to use raw in salads.
Shallot (Allium cepa L. var. aggregatum) is a variety of the onion that produces a cluster of small-elongated bulbs from a single planted bulb. Shallots are relatively smaller and tastes sweeter than onions.
The good: This food is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin B6, Folate, Potassium and Manganese, and a very good source of Vitamin C.
The bad: A large portion of the calories in this food come from sugars.
Onion Nutritional Highlights:
Serving Size: 1 cup, chopped (160g) |
| |
Total Fat: 0g - 0%
Saturated Fat: 0g - 0%
Trans Fat: 0g - 0%
Cholestrol: 0mg - 0%
Calories: 1910
Total Carbohydrate: 15g - 5%
Dietary Fiber: 3g -11%
Protein: 2g
Sugars: 7g
|
Vitamin A: 3.2 IU - 0%
Vitamin C: 11.8mg - 20%
Thiamine: 0.1mg - 5%
Vitamin B6: 0.2mg - 10%
Folate: 30.4mcg - 8%
Calcium: 36.8mg - 4%
Iron: 0.3mg - 2%
Magnesium: 16.0mg - 4%
Potassium: 234mg - 7%
Manganese: 0.2mg - 10%
|
|
|
|
|
Percent Daily Values (%DV) are based on a 2,000 calorie reference diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower based on your individual needs. Nutrient data source: US Department of Agriculture National Nutrient Database from Nutritiondata.com
Onion extracts, rich in a variety of sulfides, provide some protection against tumor growth. In central Georgia where Vidalia onions are grown, mortality rates from stomach cancer are about one-half the average level for the United States. Studies in Greece have shown a high consumption of onions, garlic and other allium herbs to be protective against stomach cancer.
Chinese with the highest intake of onions, garlic, and other Allium vegetables have a risk of stomach cancer 40 percent less than those with the lowest intake. Elderly Dutch men and women with the highest onion consumption (at least one-half onion/day) had one-half the level of stomach cancer compared with those consuming no onions at all.
Western Yellow, New York Bold, and Northern Red onions have the richest concentration of flavonoids and phenolics, providing them with the greatest antioxidant and anti-proliferative activity of 10 onions tested. The mild-tasting Western White and Vidalia onions had the lowest antioxidant content and lowest anti-proliferative activity. The consumer trend to increasingly purchase the less pungent, milder onion varieties may not be the best, since the onions with a stronger flavor and higher astringency appear to have superior health-promoting properties.
Onions contain a number of sulfides similar to those found in garlic which may lower blood lipids and blood pressure. In India, communities that never consumed onions or garlic had blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels substantially higher, and blood clotting times shorter, than the communities that ate liberal amounts of garlic and onions. Onions are a rich source of flavonoids, substances known to provide protection against cardiovascular disease. Onions are also natural anticlotting agents since they possess substances with fibrinolytic activity and can suppress platelet-clumping. The anticlotting effect of onions closely correlates with their sulfur content.
Health Benefits
Onions are very low in calories (just 40 cal per 100 g) and fats; but rich in soluble dietary fiber.
Onion phyto-chemical compounds allium and Allyl disulphide convert to allicin by enzymatic reaction when the bulb disturbed (crushing, cutting etc). Studies shown that these compounds have anti-mutagenic (protects from cancers) and anti-diabetic properties (helps lower blood sugar levels in diabetics).
Laboratory studies show that allicin reduces cholesterol production by inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase enzyme in the liver cells. Further, it also found to have anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal activities.
Allicin also decreases blood vessel stiffness by release of nitric oxide (NO); thereby bring reduction in the total blood pressure. It also blocks platelet clot formation and has fibrinolytic action in the blood vessels which, helps decrease overall risk of coronary artery disease (CAD), peripheral vascular diseases (PVD), and stroke.
They are rich source of chromium, the trace mineral that helps tissue cells respond appropriately to insulin levels in the blood; thus helps facilitate insulin action and control sugar levels in diabetes.
They are also good source of antioxidant flavonoid quercetin, which is found to have anti-carcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-diabetic functions.
They are also good in anti-oxidant vitamin, vitamin-C and mineral manganese which is required as co-factor for anti-oxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase. In addition, isothiocyanate anti-oxidants in them help provide relief from cold and flu by exerting anti-inflammatory actions.
Onions are also good in B-complex group of vitamins like pantothenic acid, pyridoxine, folates and thiamin. Pyridoxine or vitamin B-6 helps keep up GABA levels in the brain, which works against neurotic conditions.
Food Facts Archives >>
|
|
 |
|
|
