The humble red onion, normally used in Indian and Mediterranean cuisine, can help prevent heart disease, scientists have claimed. Researchers at the Chinese University in Hong Kong found that red onion helps remove bad cholesterol from the body which is dependable for heart attacks and strokes. It also retains the body's good cholesterol that in turn helps defend against heart disease, they said. Zhen Yu Chen, who led the research, said: "Despite extensive research on onions, small is known of how their utilization interacts with human genes and proteins involved in cholesterol metabolism within the body."
"Our study was therefore undertaken to characterise the communication of onions with enzymes in an attempt to explore the underlying cholesterol-lowering mechanism," Zhen was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail . "This study is the first of its kind to examine the interaction of red onions with biological functions." For their study, the scientists fed compressed-up red onions to hamsters who had all been put on a high-cholesterol diet. They found that after eight weeks, level of bad cholesterol, or low density lipoprotein (LDL), had drop by an average of 20 per cent.
But over the same time period there was no decrease in the hamsters' high cholesterol levels, also known as high density lipoprotein (HDL), they said. "The results support the claim that the usual consumption of onion reduces the risk of coronary heart disease," said Zhen. Although white onions are by far the most accepted type in Britain, red onions are widely used in India, the center East and the Mediterranean. Onions have long been recognized to have many health benefits including prevent cancer, heart disease and common coughs and colds. It has been found that some parts of the world where onion expenditure is high have even been shown to have much lower cancer rates.
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"Our study was therefore undertaken to characterise the communication of onions with enzymes in an attempt to explore the underlying cholesterol-lowering mechanism," Zhen was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail . "This study is the first of its kind to examine the interaction of red onions with biological functions." For their study, the scientists fed compressed-up red onions to hamsters who had all been put on a high-cholesterol diet. They found that after eight weeks, level of bad cholesterol, or low density lipoprotein (LDL), had drop by an average of 20 per cent.
But over the same time period there was no decrease in the hamsters' high cholesterol levels, also known as high density lipoprotein (HDL), they said. "The results support the claim that the usual consumption of onion reduces the risk of coronary heart disease," said Zhen. Although white onions are by far the most accepted type in Britain, red onions are widely used in India, the center East and the Mediterranean. Onions have long been recognized to have many health benefits including prevent cancer, heart disease and common coughs and colds. It has been found that some parts of the world where onion expenditure is high have even been shown to have much lower cancer rates.
useful links : transport rankings
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