What Lies Beneath

What is the common factor in all cuisines? In case you are wondering, the answer is onion. Whether you are cooking Mexican, Chinese, Italian or Indian delicacy, it’s hard to whip up a dish unless onion fires it with its spark.

The History

The word onion comes from the Latin word unio for “single,” or “one,” because the onion plant produces a single bulb, unlike its cousin, the garlic, that produces many small bulbs.

Onions are native to Asia and the Middle East and have been cultivated for over five thousand years. Onions were highly regarded by the Egyptians. Not only did they use them as currency to pay the workers who built the pyramids, but they also placed them in the tombs of kings, such as Tutankhamen, so that they could carry these gifts bestowed with spiritual significance with them to the after life.

Nutritional Profile

• Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction! It may be hard to believe but this versatile vegetable is a member of the lily family and a cup of raw onion in a day helps lower blood sugar and helps keep your heartbeat steady. Besides, onion is a good source of potassium
• Micro-mineral Chromium. Chromium in onion helps lower your blood sugar. Eat a cupful of onion and it can help you lower your blood sugar. One cup of raw onions supplies around 20% of your daily requirement of chromium. Chromium, a trace mineral is a very important component in glucose tolerance factor, a molecule that helps cells respond appropriately to insulin.
• Munching on onions makes your heart smile. Onions are good sources of folic acid and vitamin B 6. Folic acid along with vitamin B6 is crucial in regulating homocysteine levels. Homocysteine is an amino acid that is naturally formed in the body, as the result of breakdown of another amino acid, methionine. In recent years, high levels of homocysteine have been found to be associated with an increased risk of atherosclerois—hardening of the arteries due to the accumulation of the fatty plaque. An onion a day may increase your HDL levels.
• Relieves Pre-menstrual Syndrome. Vitamin B6 acts as a mild diuretic and relieves symptoms of Pre-menstrual Syndrome in women.
• Builds bones. Milk isn’t the only food that boosts bone health. Onions also help maintain healthy bones, suggests a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. A compound newly identified in onions with the long complex name of gamma-L-glutamyl-trans-S-1-propenyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide, GPCS, for short, inhibits the activity of osteoclasts (the cells that break down bone). Onions may be especially beneficial for women, who are at increased risk for osteoporosis as they go through menopause.
• Boosts immunity. Onions are very good source of vitamin C. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that is required for at least 300 metabolic functions in the body, including tissue growth and repair, adrenal gland function, and healthy gums. It also aids in the production of anti-stress hormones.

Storing onions

• Onions should be stored at room temperature, away from bright light, and in a manner where they are well ventilated. To do this, either place them in a wire hanging basket or a perforated bowl with a raised base so that air can circulate underneathTricks to outsmart onion tears
• Chill onions in refrigerator before you cut them. It delays activity of enzymes that irritate eyes.
• Use a sharp knife to cut onions.
• Chop them while standing.
• Wear sunglasses or goggles while chopping onions

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