Red onions may help combat cancer : Research

* Eating red onions may help fight cancer, say scientists including one of Indian origin, paving the way for a natural pill that can treat the deadly disease. Onions activate pathways that encourage cancer cells to undergo cell death. * They promote an unfavorable environment for cancer cells and disrupt communication between cancer them, which inhibits growth according to the research.Onions as a superfood are still not well known. They contain one of the highest concentrations of quercetin, a type of flavonoid.

* The team found that red onions not only have high levels of quercetin, but also high amounts of anthocyanin, which enriches the scavenging properties of quercetin molecules.

* While we can currently include this superfood in salads and on burgers as a preventative measure, the researchers expect onion extract will eventually be added to food products such as juice or baked goods and be sold in pill form as a type of natural cancer treatment. The study was published in the journal Food Research International