The Amazing Onion

Most people think onions are just a condiment that adds flavor to their food with no real nutritional value. 

Onions actually contains lots of good things.  In just one cup of onions you will receive 11% fiber, 20% Vitamin C, 10% Vitamin B6 and 8% of your daily needs of folate.

Onions also contain quercetin, a phytochemical with antioxidant properties for better health.                                              
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Have you heard the stories of onions being used to ward off disease?

This is excerpt is from a Los Angeles Times article, back in the early 1900’s:

“In a sickroom you cannot have a better disinfectant than the onion. It has a wonderful capacity for absorbing germs. A dish of sliced onions placed in a sickroom will draw away the disease; they must be removed as soon as they lose their odor and become discolored, and be replaced by fresh ones.”

Even though stories like this one have been circulating around the internet as hoaxes for years without any “scientific” truth, it wouldn’t hurt anything to cut open an onion when someone is sick in your house.  Who knows, years from now they may find there was some validity in doing it.

Did you know that red onions are easier to digest and are therefore the best onion to eat raw?  That’s why you often see red onions in guacamole.

Did you know that generally the flatter an onion is, the sweeter it will taste.  That’s why the Vidalia onion is one of the sweetest varieties.

The Texas 1015 Sweet Onion got it’s name from the best date to plant it, which is Oct. 15th.

Have you ever wondered why you cry when you chop an onion?  There is a volatile compound in the cells of the onion that is released when the cells burst.  Here are some ways to prevent the “chopping of the onion” from causing you to cry incessantly: 

1. Use a very sharp knife which will reduce the number of cells that  burst.
2. Cut onions under running water.
   
3. Place the onions in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before chopping.  This slows down the chemical reaction responsible for causing your tears.
4. Run a fan across your work area.   This blows the irritating compound, that causes your tears, away from your eyes and is highly effective.  Remember to peel your onion before turning the fan on, since the skins are light-weight and may otherwise blow all over the kitchen. 
5. If you have a fume hood over your stove you can cut the onions under it, or use a food processor, placed under the fume hood.
6. Start cutting the onion at the top instead of the root end because the root end contains more of the compound that causes us to tear-up.
   
7. Sing as you chop, this draws the gases over your tongue, bypassing your olfactory nerves near your tear ducts.
8. Burn a candle near the cutting board and the irritating gases are drawn to the flame, therefore reducing your tears. 
9. Chewing gum as you chop onions also absorbs the gas.
   

Please leave your comments below if you have any other ways to prevent tearing when chopping onions or if you have any other interesting facts or funny stories to share.