Eating onions has got a lot of health benefits to both men, women and children. Interestingly, onions can be eaten in several ways. It can be eaten raw, cooked, or pressed and its juice drank.
Onions otherwise known as allium cepa belong to Amaryllidaceae family of plants and allium genus. It is common and widely available across nations.
In several countries, it is part of cooking ingredients as it has great taste in meals. Yes, onions make food smell and taste nice.
Apart from onions’ usefulness in the kitchen, it has a lot of health benefits to both men, women and children. It is these health benefits of onion that we will write on in this article.
Before we starting discussing the health benefits of eating onions, we would want to you not note that the health benefits of eating onions is synonymous to the health benefits of onions. Read the sentence again to understand us clearly.
Now let’s discuss the health benefits in detail:
1. Onion is used as adjuvant for infections treatment
Onion contains allicin as one of its active ingredients. This active ingredient called allicin can be extracted using different technique for the treatment of some common infections.
It can be formulated into syrup for the treatment of infective cough both in children and adults.
Apart from its usefulness in cough treatment, it is still useful in the treatment of cold and flu.
2. Onion and its extracts are useful in the management of hypertension
Onion is used as supplement in the hypertensives. Among these patients, it is better used as extract.
Please note that onion’s extract alone will not normalise hypertension. So, do not rely on it nor on any other supplement for high blood pressure treatment.
Standard drugs for hypertension treatment remain the gold standard and they include the following:
- Calcium channel blockers
- Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors
- Angiotensin II receptor blockers
- Diuretics
- Beta-blockers
- Alpha-2 Receptor Agonists etc.
3. Onion is useful in cancer prevention
Allicin is known to have cancer prevention property. Remember that allicin is one of the active ingredients of onions. By extension, onion is useful in the prevention of cancer in healthy individuals especially those with risks factors of various cancers.
In addition to allicin, onions also contain different varieties of flavonoid antioxidants including anthocyanins, fisetin and quercetin. These flavonoid antioxidants that may inhibit tumor growth thereby making onions good in cancer prevention.
Yes, antioxidants mop up free radicals in body cells to protect them form being damaged by these radicals. Noted that these free radicals when not removed from the body can lead to cancer.
4. Onion helps in easing menopausal symptoms in women
Consuming onion helps in easing post menopausal symptoms due to the presence of calcium in them.
5. Onion improves hair and help in its growth
Many Ayurvedic hair products use onion juice for hair growth probably also due to its antibacterial properties. Onion also helps in keeping dandruff and lice away from the scalp.
5. Onion is used in skin care products for glowing skin
This section discusses onion benefits for skin. Onions are packed with Vitamin A,C, and K and these are all essential for a flawless skin.
In addition to these vitamins, different varieties of flavonoid antioxidants contained in onions mop up free radicals from the cells. These action is reflected in the skin as it glows without flaws.
Some active ingredients of onions also protect us from the harmful effects of the ultra violet rays of the sun.
Some persons use cold extract of onions directly on the face. Yes, you can call the extract onions juice. That’s what it is actually.
This juice is used to treat acne in addition to other standard treatment for acne. It doesn’t only clear off the acne but equally makes the skin supple.
7. Onion’s juice and extract improve sexual health
Onion boosts the testosterone levels in men. This improves the sexual prowess of men. It equally helps those with erectile dysfunction. Note however that this is not a standard treatment for erectile dysfunction.
So, in case your partner is dealing with erectile dysfunction then make him eat onions as often as possible as it help in correcting that. But as we noted above, eating onions is not the standard treatment for erectile dysfunction.
8.Onion is good for oral health
Many of us avoid eating onions (especially the uncooked ones) because of the bad breath it leaves us with. I too don’t like eating raw and uncooked onions.
Surprisingly, onions are actually very good for our oral hygiene thanks to its wonderful active ingredients with mild antibacterial properties.
9. Onion is good for the eyes
Do you desire to have good visions always? Then try making onions your friend. Eating onions regularly helps the eyes as it improves its vision and health.
Onion contains quercetin and other strong antioxidants which are highly beneficial to the eyes. They help in cataract, conjunctivitis and blepharitis.
The antibacterial effect of onions is equally utilised in the treatment of minor bacterial eyes infections.
10. Onion improves immunity
Immune system protects us from diseases. Well, the same immune system can be attacked too. This means that the immune system can be weak too.
When an individual has a weak immunity (that’s when his immune system is weak), he begins suffer all kinds of diseases. Once he comes in contact with any infectious microorganism, he falls sick.
This explains why the HIV patients who do not adhere to their antiretroviral treatment often suffer myriads of diseases that rarely go away even when they are treated. Their immune system is always down.
Yes, they can suffer diarrhoea for months.
The truth is that anyone whose immune system is weak will always suffer from one health condition or another. And unfortunately, drugs rarely help here.
Onion being a wonderful gift from nature helps in improving our immune system. In doing so, it helps in preventing us from coming down with diseases often.
What are the benefits of drinking onion water
Onion can be pressed to extract its water. Some persons use blender for this purpose. What is used to get out onion water is not that important provided the method is hygienic.
Onion water has got the same benefits as whole onion. It contains all the active ingredients that is contained in onion as we noted above. These include allicin, quercetin and other essential flavonoids. So, onion water has the exact benefits as whole onion.
Benefits of eating raw onion every day
Onion is highly beneficial to the health. Eating raw onion everyday makes us benefits maximally from all the health benefits that onion has got.
Effects of eating onion at night
Onion can be eaten at any time of the day – morning, afternoon, or night. The benefits of eating onion is enjoyed by all regardless of when it is eaten. But then, when onion is eating at night or better put, bed time, it helps us to sleep faster and better.
Yes, onion has a calming and relaxing effects on us thanks to its thanks to one of its ingredients called cysteine sulfoxides.
Cysteine sulfoxides alleviates stress, improves the quality of sleep and promotes smooth transition into sleep. So, eating onion at night has an added advantage of helping us enjoy quality sleep.
Benefits of inhaling onion
People with respiratory tract infections and diseases are encouraged to inhale onion. Doing so helps in resolving the respiratory tract infections and diseases including those who are asthmatic.
This shows that onion improves asthmatic symptoms. In fact, inhaled onion improves all respiratory symptoms. Emphasis on the all. Remember that we said above that onion is used in the treatment of infective coughs plus cold and flu.
Disadvantages of eating onion
Technically speaking, there is no disadvantage of eating onion. But then, this is not true for all. Some persons are actually allergic to onion because of its ingredients – diallyl disulfide and lipid transfer protein. The allergic reaction to these components of onion can present as asthma, runny nose, nasal congestion, red eyes, itchy eyes and nose, and contact dermatitis.
In addition to the above disadvantages of eating onion, it may interfere with blooding clotting. As it slows blood clotting, there could be a bleeding risk and complications if one under goes surgery while taking onion as medicine.
Written by Millicent Young 💖