Onions–you either love ’em or you hate ’em.
If you love ’em, you’re in luck: onions are part of the allium genus of plants that includes leeks, garlic, and shallots–all of which have the unique sulfur compound allicin that accounts for their strong smell and flavor.
Allicin has been proven to have antibacterial and antiviral properties (offsets the fact that it makes you cry). An ancient vegetable, onions have been part of traditional cuisines all over the world.
Older cultures know of onions’ medicinal properties, too, and modern science is discovering how the plants’ chemical composition helps human health.
Here are some of the ways in which onions promote our health. They may be a little smelly but definitely worth a try.
1. Blood Sugar Stabilizer
Sulfur-containing compounds in onions (and garlic)–the stuff that makes you cry–have been shown to reduce blood sugar and cholesterol levels.[1] Onions are a prime food source of the mineral chromium that is necessary for regulating blood sugar. The fiber, potassium, and other phytonutrients also support the production of insulin, the substance the body produces to regulate glucose in the blood.
2. Cancer Prevention
The same sulfur compounds that regulate blood sugar arrest cancerous cell growth. Over the course of thirteen years, several case-control studies performed in Italy and Switzerland involving tens of thousands of people found that onions and garlic were significantly effective against oral, esophageal, colon, rectal, laryngeal, breast, ovary, renal, and prostate cancers.[2]