Compound in Onions Helps Combats Obesity

Eating an onion a day may help keep obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure at bay, according to a new research published in the Journal of Nutrition. The findings suggest rutin extracted from onions reversed fat stores in laboratory rats, lowered blood pressure, reversed glucose problems and improved liver damage.

Researchers at the University of Southern Queensland fed rats a high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet for eight weeks until they developed signs of metabolic syndrome, including obesity, hypertension, fatty liver and cardiac stiffness. The rats given rutin for a further eight weeks improved the structure and function of the heart and liver, together with improved metabolic signs and less abdominal fat compared with rats given the high-carbohydrate, high-fat diet.

“Inflammation can induce weight gain as well as damage to the heart and liver," the researchers said. “We now have scientific evidence that the adverse effects of the high fat diet in these rats were completely reversed by rutin."

Rutin is found in many foods, including onions, apples, green tea and red wine, and has shown health-improving effects in different animal studies. This is first study concentrating on diet-induced health problems.