Onions are not only an essential seasoning in the kitchen but also one of the most widely used medicinal and edible ingredients. The entire onion is a treasure, with the white part, the green leaves, and the roots each offering different benefits—truly, one onion, three medicines.
One Onion, Three Medicines
Onion White: Relieves Wind-Cold Colds
The onion white, which is the stem near the root of the large onion, is its main medicinal part. It has a pungent and spicy nature and a warm property. Modern pharmacological research shows that the onion white has the effects of inducing sweat to relieve fever, strengthening the stomach, promoting urination, and expelling phlegm. The alliin contained in the onion white also has a certain inhibitory effect on *Shigella*, *Staphylococcus*, and skin fungi. Especially for wind-cold colds with nasal congestion and a runny nose in winter, it can be decocted with ginger and brown sugar to make a "Ginger-Brown Sugar-Onion White Drink" for consumption.
Onion Leaves: Helps Detoxify and Reduce Swelling
In addition to the nutrients found in the onion white, onion leaves contain many other nutrients that are superior to the white part. For example, the content of vitamin C, carotene, chlorophyll, and magnesium in the onion leaves is significantly higher than in the white part. It can be regarded as both a seasoning and a green vegetable. Because green onion leaves are rich in chlorophyll, which has a certain detoxifying and anti-swelling effect, it can be effective both externally and internally.
The "Dietary Materia Medica" introduces using onion leaves to treat swelling and pain: "Onion leaves, dried ginger, and Phellodendron amurense. Decoct together to make a soup, and use it for soaking and washing." And in the "Independent Formulas": "For treating edema with swollen feet: Chop onion leaves and stems, boil them until soft, and soak the affected area three to five times a day."
Onion Roots: Strong Antioxidant Capacity
The onion roots, often discarded during cooking, are rich in polyphenols, proteins, and polysaccharides. They rank first among the three parts—onion white, onion leaves, and onion roots—in terms of free radical scavenging ability and immune regulation.
Onion roots can be used to make wine. Clean and dry the unused onion roots from daily cooking, steep them in rice wine, and after a period of time, use this wine for cooking. Cleaned onion roots can also be used to sauté and add aroma to dishes. Onion roots can also be used to make health-boosting soups. With 3-5 grams of onion roots, 20 goji berries, 20 grams of Astragalus root, and 4-6 red dates, boiling and consuming this can help relieve wind-cold colds and migraines.
However, These People Should Not Eat Onions
1. Those with Excess Internal Heat
Because onions are warm in nature, they are not suitable for people with excessive internal heat. For example, those suffering from lung-heat dry cough, stomach-heat vomiting, hemorrhoids bleeding, or carbuncle and sore ulceration should avoid eating onions to prevent aggravating the heat and worsening the condition.
2. Lung Disease Patients
The onion white acts on the lungs. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the onion is also called "the vegetable of the lungs." The "Compendium of Materia Medica" states: "Onion is pungent and dispersing when raw, and sweet and warm when cooked. It is solid on the outside and hollow on the inside, making it the vegetable of the lungs. It is suitable for consumption by those with lung diseases." Therefore, it is often used to tonify the lungs and relieve cough. The simplest way is to boil the onion white into a soup to release lung cold—why not?
3. Those with Poor Appetite
The onion white also enters the stomach meridian, so it often appears in formulas for treating stomach diseases. It can strengthen the stomach and promote gastric juice secretion. When appetite is poor, you can't eat, or food lacks flavor, you can add some onions when stir-frying dishes, or eat them raw to whet the appetite and promote digestion.
4. Mental Workers
Onions can help circulate yang qi, eliminate the stagnation of yin and evil in the body, ensure a good supply of qi and blood to the head, and keep the mind sharp.