Onion is not only an essential condiment 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, leaves, and roots each offering different benefits, truly making one onion a three-medicine remedy.
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 warm nature. Modern pharmacological research shows that the onion white has the effects of inducing sweat to relieve fever, strengthening the stomach, promoting urination, and dispelling phlegm. The allicin 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 Sugar Onion White Drink" for consumption.
Onion Leaves: Help Detoxify and Reduce Swelling
In addition to the nutrients found in the onion white, many other nutrients in onion leaves are superior to those in the white part. For example, the vitamin C, carotene, chlorophyll, and magnesium content in onion leaves are significantly higher than in the white part. It can be regarded as both a condiment and a green vegetable. Due to the rich chlorophyll in green onion leaves, which has a certain detoxifying and swelling-reducing effect, it is effective both externally and internally.
The "Dietary Therapy Materia Medica" introduces using onion leaves to treat swelling and pain: "Onion leaves, dried ginger, and phellodendron. Decoct together to make a soup, and use it for soaking and washing." And in the "Individual Formulas": "For treating edema with swollen feet: Chop onion leaves and stems, boil until soft, and apply as a soak, 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 (white, leaves, and roots) in terms of free radical scavenging ability and immune regulation.
Onion roots can be used to make wine. After cleaning and draining the unused onion roots from daily cooking, soak them in rice wine. After a period of time, this wine can be used for cooking. Cleaned onion roots can also be used to "flash-fry" in a wok to add aroma to dishes. Onion roots can also be used to make health-promoting soups. Use 3-5 grams of onion roots, 20 goji berries, 20 grams of astragalus root, and 4-6 red dates. After boiling and drinking, it can help relieve wind-cold colds and migraines.
But These People Should Not Eat Onions
1. Those with Internal Heat
Because onions are warm in nature, they are not suitable for people with excessive internal heat, such as those suffering from lung-heat dry cough, stomach-heat vomiting, hemorrhoids bleeding, or carbuncle ulcers. Eating onions can add heat to heat, worsening the condition.
2. Lung Disease Patients
The onion white enters the lung meridian, and in Traditional Chinese Medicine, onion is also called "the vegetable of the lung." The "Compendium of Materia Medica" states: "Onion is pungent and dispersing when raw, sweet and warm when cooked. It is hollow in the middle and solid on the outside, making it the vegetable of the lung, suitable for consumption by those with lung diseases." Therefore, it is often used to tonify the lungs and stop coughs. The simplest way is to decoct the onion white into a soup to release lung-cold, so 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 your appetite is poor, you can't eat, or your food is tasteless, you can add some onions when stir-frying, or eat them raw to whet your appetite and promote digestion.
4. Mental Workers
Onions can help circulate yang qi, eliminate the blockage of yin and evil in the body, ensure the supply of qi and blood to the head, and keep the mind sharp.