Your cholesterol level is among the best indicators of your risk for circulatory problems like hardened arteries, high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke. Your best defense against high cholesterol is to understand how different foods interact with your cholesterol levels. Red onions, a staple of Indian and Mediterranean cooking, may help keep your cholesterol levels low.
Red Onion Basics
Red onions are an onion variety native to southern Europe, northern Africa and southern Europe. They have a sweeter taste and less heat than white or yellow onions. You can chop them into salads, eat them raw or replace other onion varieties in cooked recipes. Eaten as a traditional health food since before "health food" became a buzz word, red onions are associated with improved digestions and better immunity.
Cholesterol and Diet
Your body produces dangerous low-density lipoprotein -- LDL cholesterol -- when you eat foods containing saturated fats. A second kind of cholesterol, HDL -- or high-density lipoprotein -- cleans LDL out of your bloodstream and improves your circulatory health. Your body makes that sort of cholesterol when you eat unsaturated fats.
Red Onions and Fat
According to nutrition information at ProduceOasis.com, red onions contain about 1 g of unsaturated fat per cup. They contain no saturated fat. This means red onions won't stimulate your body to produce harmful LDL cholesterol. However, just 1 g of unsaturated fat per serving would mean eating an unreasonable amount of red onion before it made a significant difference in your HDL production.
Red Onion Nutrients
Red onions are rich in chromium and vitamin B6, two nutrients vital to human health. These nutrients are specifically important to circulatory health. They may directly reduce your LDL levels, while simultaneously facilitating other body processes that help reduce the impact of high cholesterol.
Hong Kong Study
According to an October 2010 CBS news report, a Hong Kong study found that crushed red onions fed to hamsters reduced LDL levels by 20 percent without a corresponding reduction in helpful HDL. This research has been conducted only on hamsters and has not been expanded to investigate why the effect occurred.
References
- "You: The Owner's Manual"; Dr. Michael Roizen & Dr. Mehmet Oz; 2005
- Produce Oasis: Red Onion
- "Eat, Drink and Be Healthy"; Walter Willett, et. al; 2004
- "A Bowl of Onion"; Good Eats Season 1, Episode 9
