Are Onions and Garlic Healthy? Here ’s What Experts Say

Garlic and onions are staples for many home cooks. But do these plants actually add any health benefits to your dishes? Or are they purely for flavor? People who try to eat colorful fruits and vegetables in order to get a wide range of vitamins and minerals may think that pale foods like onions and garlic don’t offer many nutrients. But although they may not look like nutritional powerhouses, experts say they are. Onions of all colors (including white) are good sources of vitamin C, vitamin B6, potassium and folate, while garlic is rich in vitamin C, vitamin B6, thiamin, potassium, calcium, phosphorous, copper and manganese. Plus, onions and garlic are a low-calorie way to add flavor to a dish without resorting to ingredients like butter and salt, says Jessica Jones, a California-based registered dietitian. “Incorporating some garlic and onions into your everyday cooking routine is not only going to be good for the health properties they contain, but it’s also going to make your meals more tasty and hopefully get you more excited about eating nutritious food,” Jones says. Garlic and onions — which are part of the allium family, along with shallots, leeks and chives — have so many health properties that they are often considered medicinal foods, especially in healing traditions like Ayurveda. Allium vegetables are rich in organosulfur compounds, which preliminary research suggests may be beneficial for lowering cholesterol and blood pressur...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Diet/Nutrition Source Type: news