2024 Health starts with eating well
Hypercholesterolemia affects a significant number of Americans. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that about 2 out of 5 people nationwide have high cholesterol levels equal to or greater than 200 mg DL, which equates to about 40% of Americans.
High cholesterol increases our risk of potentially life-threatening health conditions such as stroke and cardiovascular disease. Therefore, it is important to keep our total blood cholesterol levels within the normal range. Maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, and minimizing alcohol consumption are a few different ways we can protect ourselves from hypercholesterolemia. Diet is also a key factor. Consuming high-fiber foods like beans, oatmeal, and avocados can help lower our "bad" LDL cholesterol while raising our "good" HDL. It turns out that there is a powerful vegetable that can do the same thing. It can be a bit pungent and may make you cry; But it's a powerful, cholesterol-lowering onion.
Onions can lower bad cholesterol and promote good health.
In a cup of cooked onions without salt, you'll find some different nutrients including 349 mg of potassium, 735 mg phosphorus, 462 mg of calcium and slightly more than 23 mg of magnesium.
Onions also contain a flavonoid called quercetin. Researchers in a 2017 study published in Lipids in Health and Disease began to better understand the relationship between quercetin and its potential effects on cholesterol reverse transport (RCT), the body's process of removing cholesterol from cells. Using mice fed a high-fat diet, quercetin was found to promote cholesterol transfer, lower cholesterol levels, and enhance "good" HDL cholesterol function.
Even other forms of onions have been shown to have the same cholesterol-lowering benefits. In an 8-week study published in 2015 in the journal Plant-Based Foods for Human Nutrition, researchers found that drinking quercetin-rich onion juice significantly reduced LDL cholesterol levels in people with mild hypercholesterol.
Whether you prefer cooked or raw, this vegetable can be paired with any salad, pepper, burger, stew, etc. Researchers in a meta-analysis published in the journal Food Science & Nutrition in 2021 examined ten different clinical trials and concluded that onion supplementation appears to lower bad cholesterol levels, increase good cholesterol levels, and regulate total cholesterol levels. However, no relationship was observed between onion supplementation and increased triglyceride levels, and the researchers stressed that more research is still needed.
Certain factors can increase a person's risk of developing hypercholesterolemia. This includes eating foods rich in trans or saturated fats, sedentary lifestyles, smoking, genetics, age, and more. The presence of other health conditions may also be a risk factor, such as diabetes or obesity.