Amazing Reasons Why Spring Onions Should Be Included in Your Diet

Updated on October 22nd, 2020
health benefits of green onions

The term green onion is usually used interchangeably with scallion and spring onion. All are onions that don’t have a large bulb because they are harvested before the bulb forms or don’t grow that way.

Green leaves are edible, which provide some different nutrients from bulb onions [1]. And the green onions provide a lot of mature bulb onions flavor, with a little less of the bite. 

1. Digestion

The fiber in onions encourages good digestion and helps keep you regular. Moreover, onions have a particular type of soluble fiber called oligofructose, promoting good bacteria growth in our intestines. A study of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology in 2005 found that oligofructose can help treat and prevent diarrhea types.

According to the NOA (National Onion Association), the phytochemicals in onions that scavenge free radicals can also minimize your risk of developing gastric ulcers.

2. Help Blood Clotting

Scallions are practically bursting with vitamin K. In fact; just a half-cup can meet and exceed your vitamin K requirement for an entire day. Vitamin K is a necessary nutrient for multiple health aspects, but its critical role in blood clotting stands out in particular.

Blood clotting is necessary to prevent excessive bleeding as a result of an injury. It allows your plasma and platelets, two components of your blood, to form a clot when you are injured, which can help you avoid further blood loss. Lack of vitamin K can cause symptoms like easy bleeding and bruising, typically from the nose or the gums.

3. May Block Cancer Growth

One of the most incredible benefits of scallions is that they have compounds that can help reduce certain cancer growth types. In an animal study in 2012, mice with colon cancer were fed scallion extract. This was found to lower inflammation, suppress tumors’ growth, and increase the mice’s survival rate

4. Regulating blood sugar

The chromium in onions aids in regulating blood sugar. The onion’s sulfur helps lower blood sugar by triggering spiked insulin production. One study in 2010 by the journal Environmental Health Insights revealed that this might be particularly helpful to diabetes patients.

Diabetes patients with Type 2 and Type 1 who took red onions showed lower glucose levels for up to 4 hours.  

A  meta-analysis of the journal Nutrition found in 2014 that Type 2 diabetes patients saw lower glycemic levels and normalized liver enzymes when consuming sliced onions.

5. Healthy Bones

Include green onions into your diet, and you’ll also reap the advantages of their vitamins K and C content.

These nutrients both offer benefits for the strength of your skeleton — vitamin C helps you synthesize the collagen that keeps your bones robust. In contrast, vitamin K allows your body to utilize the calcium it requires to maintain bone density.

Vitamin K also handles blood clotting, while vitamin C protects your tissues from damage and acts as an antioxidant. According to the IM (Institute of Medicine), a single cup serving green onions has 111 mg of vitamin K — 89 percent of men’s recommended daily intake and the entire recommended daily intake for women.

Each green onion serving also boasts 10 mg of vitamin C — 13 percent and 11  percent of the prescribed daily intakes for women and men, respectively [3].

6. Benefits for Eye Health

Adding green onions helps your eyes because they have carotenoids, including lutein, vitamin A, and zeaxanthin. Vitamin A plays a crucial role in healthy vision, and failing to get adequate of it in your diet negatively affects your eyesight and makes it challenging to see at night. Zeaxanthin and lutein work together to keep your eyes healthy.

Consuming them protects your cells from damage and fights macular degeneration, explains the University of Maryland Medical Center. Each cup of green onions contains 2,840 international units and 609 micrograms of lutein and zeaxanathin.

According to the Institute of Medicine, this provides 95 percent of the recommended daily vitamin A intake for men and women’s entire daily intake.

[Also Read: Natural Supplements for Eye Health]

7. Reduce inflammation

The compounds responsible for green onions’ powerful aroma can also offer a range of the most significant health advantages green onions provide. Onions consist of allyl propyl disulfide, which is known to reduce blood glucose levels.

Quercetin, an antioxidant found in green onions, provides anti-histamine and anti-inflammatory advantages. Onions are abundant with chromium, an essential mineral utilized by our body to manage glucose and also for the storage of macro-nutrients and metabolic processes.

Green onions generally are abundant with vitamin C that increases defenses and provides defense against eye disease, coronary disease, and skin wrinkles. Some other nutrition found in green onions consists of manganese, fiber, vitamin B6, copper, and potassium.

[Also Read: Natural Remedies for Inflammation]

8. Promote Heart Health

Scallions, commonly called spring onions, are usually abundant with critical minerals, just like folate and potassium. Studies have revealed the health effects of folate in minimizing homocysteine circulating levels. It is crucial to prevent heart diseases as well as building a heart stroke.

Simultaneously, potassium helps with managing hypertension. Allyl sulfides and allicin within the vegetable protect your arteries from blocking to avoid atherosclerosis.

9. Low-Calories

Scallions really are a low-calorie vegetable, which contains 32 calories for each single-cup serving. When you can take scallions alone, it is more prevalent to consume this vegetable as an element of a more significant recipe or even spread over a dish’s surface. Your total calorie intake is a lot higher.

10. Antiviral Properties

The effective phytonutrient present in scallions known as allicin is exactly what provides it with its antiviral qualities and causes it to be beneficial in combating flu and cold viruses.

Bottom Line

The health advantages related to onions are quite significant. These nutrient-packed vegetables contain potent compounds that may decrease your risk of certain cancers and heart disease. Onions promote digestive health, have antibacterial properties, which can improve immune function.

Moreover, they’re multi-faceted and can be used to heighten the flavor of any savory dish. Incorporating more onions to your diet is a simple way to boost your overall health.

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