Calories in onion

Benefits of onion

Usage of onion plays important part of our diet. This vegetable is very poor in calories, and therefore is recommended for persons who want to lose weight. Onion is used over the five thousand years in preparing of the meals and is still present as important part of every cuisine. It is supposed that cultivation of this vegetable began in Asia and, further was developed in Egypt. People from India used this plant for medicinal purposes. Today, onion is used in preparation of cooked vegetables, as flavor added with preparation of meats and in salads.

As already mentioned, onion is very poor in calories but its nutritional value is high. For example middle-sized onion (weighing around 110 g) has 44 ckal and is consisted of: 98 g of water, 10.3 g of carbohydrates, 0.1 g of fats, 1.2 g of proteins, 0.1 mg of vitamin B6, 8.1 mg of vitamin C, 25.3 mg of calcium, 11.0 mg of magnesium, 31.9 mg of phosphorus, 161 mg of potassium and 0.1 mg of manganese. The same way as that, one cup of the chopped onion (weighing around 160 g) has 64 calories and is consisted of: 143 g of water, 14.9 mg of carbohydrates, 0.2 g of fats, 1.8 g of proteins, 0.2 mg of vitamin B6, 11.8 mg of vitamin C, 36.8 mg of calcium, 16.0 mg of magnesium, 46.4 mg of phosphorus, 234 mg of potassium and 0.2 mg of manganese. Impressive, isn’t it?

Onion effect on health

Considering all these nutrients found in onion, it surely helps in improving the health of organism. There is great number of benefits which onion provides for our health. One of them is stabilizing of the blood sugar level. That is provided by ability of onion to increase the amount of insulin in the body by presence of chromium. Other benefit of onion is that helps in digestion. It is conditioned by presence of dietary fibres and antioxidants. Also, this vegetable helps in lowering bad cholesterol and triglycerides, which are the main causes of cardiovascular diseases. Onion plays important part in strengthening of the immune system by its anti-inflammatory properties and anti-bacterial compounds. That way, onion helps in prevention or curing of cold and flu.

Of course, in order to maintain all healthy nutrients in onion, it is highly advised not to prepare it by frying. There are some delicious recipes, for example onion soup or tomatoes and onion salad, which are part of the healthy diet.