Onions For Winters: How This Staple Food May Boost Your Health This Season

With the temperatures dipping swiftly, winter wardrobe is ruling our mind. We are so busy pulling out our winter clothing, we forget that apart from our clothes, our food too can help us keep warm during the chilli days ahead; and we don't even have to put in special efforts to plan our diet. There may be scores of different dishes to choose from, but almost all of them have one thing in common – onions. This food alone can make all the difference in preparing our body to brave the biting cold we'll soon face. This year-round kitchen hero is a staple food, which is always present in all households at all times.

The ever-pervasive, ever-rife onion can never lose its charm. It lays the very foundation of the dish and commands its flavour game. Can you imagine your chole bhature or pav bhaji without a smattering of onions? Or, your dal or rajma cooked without onions? But, sadly, onion is such a common food item that sometimes it is overlooked for its nutritional value. Although, it is important to consume this food throughout the year, onion offers special health benefits during the winters, which are not promulgated enough.

(Also Read: 10 Magical Benefits of Onions That Keep the Doctor Away)

^{Onions are an important part of our everyday meals}

So, here we tell you how eating onions during winters may help you (health benefits of onions):

Keeps You Warm

Onion juice has been used in ancient Chinese healing practices as an energy-giving elixir. Onions are one of those foods, which produce heat inside the body and move energy to the body's surface to induce a sense of warmness.

Boosts Immune System

Onions are supremely rich in vitamin C, phytochemicals and other anti-oxidant compounds like quercetin that help build immunity.

Fights Infections

Due to the presence of natural infection-fighting compounds like allyl disulphate, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties, onions can prove beneficial in alleviating fever, cold, cough, asthma, earaches and skin problems. 

Aids Weight Loss

When you are too lazy to work out during winters, onions can help you maintain weight as it is low in calories and high in fibre, along with some vital minerals like calcium, iron, folate, sulphur, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium.

Protects Teeth

And, with the overdose of sweet foods that we tend to consume during this season, chewing raw onions can improve our oral health and reduce the risk of tooth decay and gum problems.

With these and more such health benefits, onions are a must-have food during winters to wade through the frosty days when you are more vulnerable to falling sick and let lethargy set it.

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.