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What nutritional benefits do raw onions have over cooked ones? I've recently been adding onions to everything, but always cooked. Is it just more of the same nu

• steve_adams_86 4y ago
  Well, the science isn’t totally conclusive but raw onions have quite bit more sulphuric compounds which evidently help protect against cancer. Sulforaphane is a compound found in cruciferous vegetables (especially broccoli sprouts for example) which shows a lot of promise as well (blood sugar moderation, reduction of bad cholesterol, cancer protection). It seems like the similar compounds in onions are similarly beneficial, but they’re partially destroyed during cooking. Another thing is that the outer layers of onions contain crazy amounts of antioxidants which also decrease during cooking. Unfortunately the inner layers, especially in white and yellow onions, have very low levels of antioxidants. Anyway they are a great food either way. I partially meant they’re a super food in terms of flavour, too. They’re amazing in the right dishes and I think they’re under used and under appreciated (at least where I live). A cool thing about antioxidants in plants is that you tend to find them in places that the plant wants to protect itself from something. With berries it seems to prevent fungal growth and rot to keep the berries viable for consumption longer, onions’ outer layers prevent infiltration of similar issues, some leaves of plants as well. I find it all really fascinating. Especially fascinating that we’ve adapted to benefit from consuming these protective mechanisms in plants.