An onion a day can keep strokes at bay | Red onion Day

In the fight against heart disease, one of the secret weapons could be nestling in your vegetable rack.

Scientists have discovered that onions help reduce bad cholesterol, which can cause heart attacks and strokes.

At the same time the body retains good cholesterol, which help protect against heart disease. The researchers used red onions, but there appears no reason why the white variety normally used in Britain should not be just as effective.

The experiment involved feeding crushed red onions to hamsters which had been put on a high-cholesterol diet.

The scientists found that after eight weeks levels of bad cholesterol, or low density lipoprotein (LDL), had dropped by an average of 20 per cent.

But over the same time period there was no reduction in the hamsters' good cholesterol levels, also known as high density lipoprotein (HDL).

Zhen Yu Chen, who was in charge of the research carried out at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said: "Despite extensive research on onions, little is known of how their consumption interacts with human genes and proteins involved in cholesterol metabolism within the body. These results support the claim that the regular consumption of onion reduces the risk of coronary heart disease."

Most popular

Although white onions are by far the most popular type in Britain, red onions are widely used in India, the Mediterranean and the Middle East. They are far sweeter than the white variety, and are often used raw in salads.

Red onion marmalade, made by cooking onions with vinegar and sugar, has recently become popular in Britain an alternative to chutney served with cheese or cold meat.

Onions have long been known to have many health benefits including preventing cancer, heart disease and common coughs and colds. Some parts of the world where onion consumption is high have even been shown to have much lower cancer rates.

Via
http://gulfnews.com/