In almost everything I cook I add garlic and onion. If the recipe calls for 1 clove of garlic, I add like 4! Turns out there are quite a few health benefits to BOTH garlic and onions, and it’s so easy to incorporate both.
GARLIC
Did you know that in Ancient Greece, the physician Hippocrates, often called the father of Western medicine, used to prescribe garlic to treat a variety of medical conditions? Garlic is high in a sulfur compound called Allicin, which is believed to bring most of the health benefits.
A 1 ounce (28 grams) serving of garlic contains:
Manganese: 23% of the RDA.
Vitamin B6: 17% of the RDA.
Vitamin C: 15% of the RDA.
Selenium: 6% of the RDA.
Fiber: 1 gram.
Decent amounts of Calcium, Copper, Potassium, Phosphorus, Iron and Vitamin B1. Garlic also contains trace amounts of various other nutrients. In fact, it contains a little bit of almost everything we need.
Garlic supplementation is known to boost the function of the immune system. High doses of garlic appear to improve blood pressure of those with known high blood pressure (hypertension). Garlic supplementation seems to reduce total and LDL cholesterol, particularly in those who have high cholesterol. It also contains antioxidants that protect against cell damage and aging, so it may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. There is even research being conducted to see if garlic can help with bone health!
.. and to think, I just thought it was yummy!
ONION
The use of onions for food goes back at least 3,500 years, and the vegetable is one of the oldest of cultivated plants!
Every time I brown ground beef or turkey, I also add chopped onion! It’s one of my secret ingredients (shhh!) in my chili, pretty much every soup, lasagna and tacos!
Did you know the onion is a super food?! Compared with high-profile foods like pomegranates, red wine, and green tea the onion offers superior benefits for both the prevention and treatment of many common diseases, including various kinds of cancer, coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cataracts and more. In addition, onions can act as a powerful antibiotic and are helpful in reducing food-borne illnesses caused by microbial contamination.
