Celebrate British Onions Season

September announces the start of the British onion season and to celebrate this year’s harvest, British Onions have teamed up with top chef Gizzi Erskine to create six mouth-watering onion recipes.

The humble onion boasts a number of health properties that help to keep the body in peak condition. Experts believe that as little as two to three onions per week can have a significantly positive impact on health. And even better news, onions don’t have to be eaten raw to maximise their health benefits.

Top reasons to eat British onions:

• They are packed with Quercetin, a multi-tasking flavonoid which helps to keep the body in peak condition, aiding to fight a variety of illnesses ranging from the common cold to colon, prostate and breast cancer. In fact, the absorption of Quercetin from onions is twice that from tea and three times that from apples.
• Natural Prebiotics; common food sources of prebiotics include onions, garlic, banana and asparagus. Prebiotics encourage the friendly bacteria to flourish, helping to support our natural defences; research to date has demonstrated that prebiotics can improve common and chronic complaints such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, acne, food allergies, Chronic Fatigue and depression.
• Sulphur; researchers have discovered that a sulphur-containing compound found in onions has the potential to greatly improve existing memory impairment. The study found that sulphur atoms in the compound have the ability to bond with harmful cellular toxins commonly found in modern life, such as traffic fumes, cigarette smoke and industrial pollution, which can pose a threat to cognitive function. The sulphur atoms can actually remove these damaging toxins by a process of chelation, suggesting onions can help to ‘clean’ the brain following exposure to toxins.
• Onions contain very high levels of chromium which helps maintain a positive hormone balance and to combat PMS.