Health benefits of onions

You can buy onions from the supermarket in red, white and even purple colors. The colored onions add color and visual appeal to your dishes. The red/purplish onions are known to be spicier and the white ones are generally hotter than yellow onions. Yellow onions are usually sweeter, milder and juicier to eat than any of the other varieties. They can also be bought in many different sizes from your store.

You use onions in a variety of ways. The green tops of young spring onions are delicious minced up in salads or baked potatoes.There are shallots, which are a very small onion variety, ideal for casseroles, stews and also for pickling. Then we have the normal onions which we use in every day cooking. You can boil, marinate, fry and eat onions raw according to your tastes and needs.

Onions belong to the Allium family

Onions belong to the same family of vegetables as the Garlic and Leek, called the Allium family. They are also distantly related to tulips, which were originally cultivated for their mild onion-like edible bulb, rather than the flowers that are appreciated today.

Onions contain a lot of vitamins

Onions help maintain healthy bones and teeth, because they are rich in calcium. They also contain high levels of Vitamin A, B,C and G which are beneficial because they are known to help aid in the fight against many different cancers and can help prevent blood clotting in our bodies.

The many vitamins in onions also help protect us against catching colds and viruses. We also absorb magnesium, fiber and folic acid better when we have eaten them, which helps us keep regular bowel movements and these nutrients are also great for pregnant women, as the folic acid helps in the development of healthy tissue in fetuses.

Onions are very low in calories

The average onion contains around 45 calories per serving.

How to choose a good onion

Choose onions that are clean, well shaped and have no opening at the neck and also have dry, crispy outer skins. Do not choose onions that are sprouting or show signs of mould.

The best way to store onions is to keep them at room temperature and not in the fridge, keep them in a wire hanging basket or in a wire rack so they are well ventilated. Keep onions away from potatoes when storing them, as the onions will absorb the moisture from the potatoes causing them to decay quicker.

If you are only using half or part of a onion, keep the rest tightly wrapped up and eat within the next couple of days, otherwise the nutritional value will decrease.

Fun onion facts

Besides eating them, there are several uses for onions around the home. For example, research suggests that if you mix the juice of an onion with either honey or olive oil, it can be an effective treatment for helping acne conditions.