Never mind the tears they bring on—onions are an ace ally in your fight against disease. A prized member of the lily family, they lavish you with health benefits while adding oodles of taste to your food.
A quick glimpse at their incredible health benefits:
- Onions have antibiotic, antiseptic, antimicrobial and carminative properties to help you stay away from infections.
- Onions are rich in sulphur, fibers, potassium, vitamin B, vitamin C and they are low in fat, cholesterol and sodium.
- It is an immediate cure for fever, common cold, cough, sore throat, allergies, etc. A mixture of onion juice and honey can cure these problems easily.
- A small piece of onion can work against side effects of fever if it is kept on the forehead.
- A small piece of onion, when inhaled, can stop or slow down the bleeding through the nose.
- An onion a day can cure insomnia or sleeping disorders. This will surely give you a good night’s sleep.
- Onions can improve the digestive system. If you have a digestion problem, then onions can cure it by increasing the release of the digestion juices.
- Onion juice can cure burnt skin or an insect bite or a bee bite. It may burn more but it can heal it very effectively.
- Onions can be used to prevent cancers. It works against head, neck and colon cancers.
- You can protect yourself from osteoporosis and atherosclerosis by consuming onions daily.
- Onions increase the insulin in the body and also treat diabetes by controlling the sugar levels in the blood.
- The bad cholesterol that causes heart problems can be burnt or removed if an onion is consumed daily. It keeps you safe from the coronary diseases and also protects the good cholesterol.
- Inflammation from arthritis in the joints can be healed with onions.
- There is a small trick with onions to get some relief from body pains. Onions should be fried in sesame or castor oil and can be used to heal any aches.
- One of the well-known tricks to remove dark patches or pigments on your face is to apply onion and turmeric juice on that area.
- Onion juice is also used to cure ear and eye problems. This juice is used for infants as eye drops for clear vision.
- This is also used for toothaches and tooth decaying.
- Onions have rejuvenation properties on the body tissues.
- For a few types of moles, onion juice works efficiently by removing them.
- For a good memory and a strong nervous system, consuming onions is your best bet.
Nutritional breakdown of onions
Onions are a nutrient-dense food, meaning that while they are low in calories they are high in beneficial nutrients like vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. One cup of chopped onion contains approximately 64 calories, 15 grams of carbohydrate, 0 grams of fat, 0 grams of cholesterol, 3 grams of fiber, 7 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein and 10% or more of the daily value for vitamin C, vitamin B-6 and manganese. Onions also contain small amounts of calcium, iron, folate, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium and the antioxidants quercetin and sulfur.
