Onions are often combined with food for flavor, but it turns out that they are bound with nutritional value and can be a good ally for runners.
Every time you go to the supermarket, you are likely to throw a couple of onions into your cart without a second thought; It is an easy option to add to your salads or to add flavor to your meals.
But, the nutritional value of this vegetable is often overlooked simply because it is the easiest way to amplify the flavor of your meals.
“The onion is a very ignored vegetable with many benefits and flavor”, details the dietitian Marisa Moore. Did you know that onion can be a good ally for working?
For this reason, we spoke with two nutritionists, Marisa Moore and Natalie Rizzo, to talk about how fruitful this vegetable can be for health, as well as for muscle recovery and what is the best way to cook it so as not to lose your benefits.
What Are The Health Benefits Of Onions?
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Thankfulness to the presence of certain phytochemicals (plant chemicals that contribute to their color, taste, and smell), including disulfides and trisulfides, onions can help limit chronic diseases, such as heart condition and special types of cancer, if they are part of a strong and well-balanced diet, says Moore.
In addition, onions contain a percentage of fiber, vitamin C, and folate, among other nutrients, which can be useful to help you improve health and performance.
How Can Runners Help By Adding Onions To Their Diet?
This mixture can help reduce the effects of post-workout inflammation among athletes, Rizzo says.
Additionally, a recent study written in the Journal of Functional Foods found that quercetin in onions can act as an anti-inflammatory factor.
While the real benefit in helping you with post-workout recovery cannot be confirmed, make sure you have optimal hydration daily, stretch well, and eat a rich, balanced diet, explains Moore.
How Often Should You Eat Onions?
There is no recommended daily allowance, so you can eat as many onions as you like, says Moore. However, Rizzo notes that there are some athletes who can cause gastrointestinal upset if they eat them before every workout.
So you may want to avoid them for that reason or schedule your onion meals for after your runs. But if they do not cause you problems, it is fine to eat them daily, yes, like everything else, in moderation.
Are Certain Types Of Onions Better Than Others?
Red onions also contain some anthocyanins (the same antioxidant found in grains), which can promote healing and return, but the truth is that most onions give related gains, says Moore.
Of course, you should know that there are different types of onions with different levels of heat, so that will depend a lot on the taste of each one. For example, shallots are quite mild, while white onions are spicier.
Is There A Difference Between Cooked And Raw Onion?
Yes. Cooked onions may contain less vitamin C than raw ones due to the loss of water, explains Moore. In any case, to retain most of its nutrients, it would be best to steam or sauté the onion. “Though it’s also okay to include them in soups and stews that cook great, as it will eat away at the food,” says Moore.
In addition, it must be said that fresh and frozen onions are exactly the same in terms of their nutrients, says Rizzo. The vegetables frozen s are collected at the peak of freshness and frozen rapidly in order to fix all their nutrients.
The difference between fresh and steamed vegetables is minimum, but you also have to consider what is used to cook them,” says Rizzo. “For model, if you use oil, that adds calories and fat to your food.”
How Can You Add Onions To Your Healthy Diet?
There are many ways to eat onions, and if you don’t like them one way, try other ways before cutting them out of your diet altogether. Moore suggests adding onions as a crunchy, spicy, flavorful touch in sauces or as a fresh condiment in salads.
Depending on your preferences, putting them in a variety of cooked foods including sauces, stews, and soups will give them a pretty tasty flavor, and grilling them will give you a self-contained, sweet veggie.
Also, your spice cabinet may already have onion powder in it. This species is composed solely of dehydrated onions, so it contains more or less the same percentage of nutrients, confesses Rizzo. The difference is that a small amount should be used since a tablespoon of onion powder is similar to a medium onion.
One tablespoon of onion medicine has half the nutritional advantages of a real onion. For the model, an onion has 50 calories, while onion medicine has about 20 calories.
