What Every Onion Lover Should Know

Onions - everyone wants to heap praise on them. From their history as a food that's fed man since the beginning of civilization 10,000 years ago to modern-day science showing them to be good for things like decreasing blood clots, what's not to like?

If you're a vegetarian or vegan, you've probably seen plenty of articles praising this bulbous member of the Allium family (lilies).

What so often gets lost in the haze of praise for all plant foods, though, is the understanding that all foods are a mix of good and bad. All foods contains some level of toxicity, and our bodies are in a constant state between tox and detox. When we eat foods lower in toxicity, our health tends to be good because our bodies stay ahead of the curve. When we start embracing less-than-ideal foods, though, we can get ourself into trouble.

Yet all foods also have benefits. Even hemlock, used for suicide and executions for thousands of years, is full of its fair share of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. If we looked at these in isolation we might think hemlock would be a great food, but eating it would be a disaster. Similarly, poison ivy has plenty of good points, but if you ate it you wouldn't be very happy with yourself afterwards.

Onions are certainly full of beneficial compounds, which is what most people praise them for. They're also unlikely to kill anyone who eats them as a condiment, as most people do.

Yet this does not make them a health food. Onions are full of irritating chemicals that can cause accidental abortions, bring on anemia, or even kill. What's worst is that many of their downsides, in our crazy drug-prescribing world, are actually considered benefits.

Whether or not you keep these foods in your diet is up to you, but everyone should have the full story before making a decision.

Learn more about onions here.

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