Contents:
- Medical Video: Health Benefits Put Sliced Onion On Your Foot Overnight
- Nutritional content of onions
- Benefits of onions
- 1. Heart health
- 2. Preventing cancer
- 3. Maintain mood
- 4. Strengthens the body's immunity
- 5. Maintain the function of the digestive system
- 6. Maintain blood sugar levels
Medical Video: Health Benefits Put Sliced Onion On Your Foot Overnight
Not only makes food more delicious, onions have many benefits for body health. What are the benefits of onions? Here is the review
Nutritional content of onions
Before knowing the benefits, let's see what it actually contains in onions.
In 100 grams of onion contains:
- Water: 87.5 grams
- Energy: 43 kal
- Protein: 1.4 grams
- Carbohydrates: 10.3 grams
- Fiber: 2 grams
- Fat: 0.2 gram
- Sodium: 12 mg
- Potassium: 9.6 mg
- Vitamin C: 9 mg
- Calcium: 32 mg
- Iron: 0.5 mg
- Zinc: 0.3 mg
- Vitamin B2: 0.21 mcg (micrograms)
- Total carotene: 50 mcg
Judging from the nutritional value, onions include foods that contain dense nutrients. Onions are low in calories but high in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidant compounds in them.
Benefits of onions
1. Heart health
Onions have very good benefits for the health of the heart and blood vessels. From maintaining blood pressure, to reducing the risk of a heart attack.
This is because of the content of potassium in onions which has a blood pressure-lowering effect. Quercetin, one of the types of flavonoids in onions also helps potassium maintain blood pressure and improve overall heart health.
2. Preventing cancer
The benefits of other onions are to prevent cancer. Onions enter the allium vegetable group. Allium vegetables have the priority to prevent cancer, especially stomach cancer and colorectal (large intestine) because the organosulfur compounds in it are very high.
The exact mechanism of how organosulfur inhibits the growth of cancer cells is still unknown, but basically these compounds play an important role in preventing the formation of free radicals in the body.
Onions are also a powerful source of antioxidants from vitamin C. This condition makes onions have a great power to ward off free radicals that trigger cancer.
In addition, onion is also known as the quercetin content. Quercetin is a powerful anti-cancer agent.
Quoted from the Live Science page, people who eat onions absorb two times more quercetin than those who drink tea, three times more than those who eat apples. Especially in red onions, the highest quercetin content.
Onions can also help deal with the side effects of cancer treatment. A 2016 study in Integrative Cancer Therapies found that eating fresh onions helped reduce insulin resistance and hyperglycemia in breast cancer patients who were undergoing chemotherapy. As is often the case, breast cancer chemotherapy usually causes these side effects.
3. Maintain mood
Folate found in onions can also reduce the symptoms of depression reported on the Medical News Today website. Folate reduces the formation of homocysteine, a compound that can prevent blood and nutrients from reaching the brain optimally.
By suppressing homocysteine production, this means the production of chemicals in the brain such as serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine can be produced smoothly. The production of brain chemicals that smoothly makes the brain more optimal in regulating moods, sleep cycles, and also appetite.
4. Strengthens the body's immunity
The benefits of onions are also as an enhancer of the body's immune system. Polyphenols in onions act as antioxidants, protecting the body from free radicals. Reduced piles of free radicals in the body can help push the immune system stronger.
According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, quercetin in onions also helps reduce allergic reactions by stopping the body from producing histamine, which makes you sneeze, handle, and itchy.
5. Maintain the function of the digestive system
Fiber in onions makes the digestive system work properly. Onions contain special types of fiber, namely soluble fiber called oligofructose. This fiber encourages the growth of good bacteria in the intestine. Oligofructose is also needed to help prevent and treat diarrhea.
6. Maintain blood sugar levels
Chromium contained in onions has a role to help regulate blood sugar levels. Sulfur in onions helps lower blood sugar and triggers an increase in insulin production.
The study in the journal Environmental Health Insights states that onions are very useful for people with diabetes. People with type 1 and type 2 diabetes who eat onions (colored red) in this study showed lower blood sugar levels for the next 4 hours.
