Red onions are full of health-boosting compounds (Image: Getty)
Research has suggested that eating red onions could help prevent cancer. The vegetable, which is a cornerstone of dishes in food cultures from all over the world, is full of chemicals that can kill cancer cells, according to scientists.
Eventually, this discovery could lead to cancer-busting pills being developed that are based on the internal chemistry of an onion. People with the highest level of consumption of the vegetable have a lower chance of several types of cancer; including ovarian, bowel, and breast cancer.
Quercetin and anthocyanins – which give the onion variety its distinctive red color – are cancer-busting compounds found within the vegetable. “Anthocyanin is instrumental in providing color to fruits and vegetables,” said Abdulmonem Murayyan, a PhD student at the University of Guelph in Canada.
“So it makes sense the red onions, which are darkest in color, would have the most cancer-fighting power.”
The study was the first of its kind, Mr Murayyan – alongside engineering Professor Suresh Neethirajan – found that red onions were especially potent when it came to fighting cancer. A key component of Mediterranean cooking for thousands of years, the relatively low levels of the disease in the area could be attributable to the regular use of red onion in dishes.
To unleash their disease-fighting powers, red onions are best consumed raw (Image: Getty)
Whether used as a garnish, mixed through a salad, or stirred into a multitude of recipes, onions are a prized ingredient in many parts of the world. They can even be – and often are – used raw.
The vegetable’s cancer-fighting credentials aren’t the only medical utility that they have. They have also been linked with lessening your chances of and fighting heart disease and diabetes.
The researchers said that – despite containing a huge amount of quercetin – onions were still not recognized as a superfood, despite all of their health-boosting properties. In laboratory experiments, colon cancer cells were placed in close contact with quercetin which was extracted from different onion varieties.
“We found onions are excellent at killing cancer cells. Onions activate pathways that encourage cancer cells to undergo cell death,” Mr Murayyan said. “They promote an unfavorable environment for cancer cells and they disrupt communication between cancer cells, which inhibits growth.”
The root vegetable was also shown to be adept at killing breast cancer cells. The next port of call, Mr Murayyan said, was to trial the cancer-fighting properties of onions in people.
A new extraction technique eliminates the need for chemicals and this makes the quercetin compound more suitable for consumption. Other methods leave a toxic residue which is then ingested in food.
“This new method that we tested to be effective only uses super-heated water in a pressurized container,” Prof Neethirajan said. “Developing a chemical-free extraction method is important because it means we can use onion’s cancer-fighting properties in nutraceuticals and in pill form.”
Grown all over the world, red onions are especially prized in Asian and Mediterranean dishes (Image: Getty)
Experts suggest that eating red onions raw is preferable because the cooking process can kill off some of the beneficial elements. Diabetic people are a cohort that should regularly eat the vegetables because they help increase insulin levels.
Onions are also fibrous which means they can help people with digestive issues. A single onion contains roughly 1.5 grams of fiber. But that is not where the health-boosting effects of the root vegetable ends.
Flavonoid compounds – the chemicals that give the onions their striking color – can reduce ”bad” cholesterol in overweight people who are at risk of heart disease. Flavonoids also have anti-inflammatory abilities which can help ease arthritis.
Fighting cholesterol, helping to fight off heart disease, and discouraging clot formation, onions truly are a superfood.
Written by John O’sullivan for the IRISH Star ~ October 25, 2023