Healthy Eating: Food and Health with Healthy Eating Recipes by Lucy Hyland at Food For Living

Onions are part of the allium family, remember all those benefits I talked about a few weeks ago with leeks.

Due to their sulphur containing phytonutrients and their relatively high levels of chromium, onions help to balance your blood sugar levels through out the day. Its great to include these in any healthy eating plan. So having a little chopped red onion in your omelette or scrambled eggs is a tasty and healthy addition to your breakfast.

They also contain phytonutrients such as flavanoids, carotenoids and phytosterols making them good for heart health, cholesterol and anti-inflammatory benefits.

Onions are also great for digestive health as they are a good source of fibre, are linked a to reduced risk of colon cancer and are considered a prebiotic (feed your good gut bacteria)

The stronger the smell and irritating effect on your eyes, the greater the phytonutrients! The main types of onions are yellow and red (both containing powerful antioxidants), Spanish, white or pear.

Spring onions remain in the soil longer and therefore lose some of their phytonutrients and therefore their eye watering effect!

Buy onions that are clean and well shaped, have crisp, dry outer skins and have no opening at the neck.

Store onions in a cool dark place, keep them well ventilated and do not store with potatoes as this will make them go off quicker!!

When cooking onions, I always saute them first, for about 5-10 mins before I add the other ingredients. I have got out of the habit of frying them in oil, now I use a little water and cover them and let them sweat. Remember the less oil you use in cooking, the healthier your heart!!

Onions are a great part of any healthy eating plan.