When it comes to food, there are usually two main ways to consume it. Either you cook it before eating it, or you eat it raw.
However, you must know that now all foods are created equal, so not all can be eaten in their raw form.
One kind of food people might eat raw or cooked is onion. In this article, we will discuss whether it is possible to eat raw onion and what benefits and risks can come about when eating it raw.
By the end, you will be very informed! We can promise you that.
Contents
Is It Possible To Eat Raw Onion?
It is possible to eat raw onion. Eating raw onion has a lot of benefits which include:
- Heart Health is one thing that eating raw onions can improve. The reason for this is that it is rich in flavonoids and thiosulfates. Both of these things help reduce bad cholesterol in your body, which in turn, helps your heart!
- Healthy Bones are another thing that can be improved by eating onions. Onions have a lot of calcium, and as we all know, calcium is a great way of keeping your bones healthy.
- Vision is improved by eating onions due to the vitamin E that is inside of onions. This helps keep eye issues away. Another thing it can help is oral health due to vitamin C.
- Both hair and skin can be improved by eating onions. For skin, this is because of all the vitamins in it. For hair, it’s because some hair products use onion juice, though more research does need to be done to be able to prove this fully.
- Immunity can be strengthened due to the antioxidants in them. These help you strengthen your immune system, which is what is important to keeping your body healthy.
What Are the Risks of Eating Raw Onion?
Unfortunately, there are some risks to eating raw onion and just onions in general. Some risks of eating raw onion include:
- This shouldn’t be surprising, but eating a lot of onions can lead to you having bad breath and body order.
- Eating raw onions could lead to GI issues like heartburn, nausea/vomiting, bloating, and cramping.
- While it is rare, people can be allergic to onions. Common symptoms include itching, watering of the eyes, and rashes. Again, it is rare for people to develop allergic reactions to onions.
- More research has to be done, but eating onions could lead to slow blood clotting. Those with bleeding disorders should talk with their doctor or just avoid eating onions in access. However, more research does need to be done, so take this with a grain of salt.
- Finally, onions can be associated with lowering your blood glucose level. If you happen to be getting surgery or something, avoid eating onions or even onion supplements.
So, while there are risks to eating onions raw, there still are a lot of benefits to it too!
The best way to prevent any of these risks is to just eat them in moderation. If you do this, you’ll be sure to lower any chance of experiencing these risks.
How to Safely Store Raw Onion
It’s important to know how to safely store raw onions so they don’t taste bad and you also don’t end up consuming some that have gone bad. You can do this by:
- Onions should be stored in a dry, cool, and dark place. Consider keeping it in a container that has ventilation and isn’t completely covered. You do want to get some air circulation in there to make sure they stay fresh.
- If they have been cut, then you need to put them in the fridge in an airtight container. They can last in the fridge for about a week.
- Believe it or not, cut onions can also be put in the freezer, but they need to be cooked first. If you do have cooked onions, then you can put them in the freezer. Put them in a freezer bag that is airtight and put them in the freezer. It can stay there for a few months.
So, now you know how to store onions safely, but what about cooking them? Not everyone wants to eat raw onions, and for those people, we have the next section, which lists the best way to cook onions.
How To Cook Onion
The most proven way to cook onion is in a frying pan. It’s pretty easy to do this. All you have to do is:
- First, heat a frying pan and put some oil in it. Once it’s hot, throw in the onion and start cooking them.
- You want to cook the onions until they are translucent. Keep cooking, and don’t let them brown yet.
- Next is to cook them until they are golden or brown. The amount of time to cook them depends on how cooked you want your onions. It just depends on what you prefer. Most of the time, it just takes a few minutes to sauté onions in a frying pan, so you’ll be done in no time.
There you go! This is the best and most full-proof method of cooking onions in a frying pan. You don’t have to cook them if you don’t want to.
This vegetable is perfectly safe to eat raw, unlike some other ones out there, so eat them however you like!
The great thing about onions is that they can be consumed in two different ways that people tend to consume food.
Final Thoughts
And there you have it, all your onion lovers out there. While people may not realize that onion can be eaten raw, it absolutely can be cooked or eaten raw.
The way you want to eat it just depends on how you prefer to consume it.
If you do prefer to cook it, there are plenty of ways to cook it, so don’t worry! So, what are you waiting for? Go out and buy some onions!
You might also be interested in the following:
- Can You Eat Raw Corn?
- Can You Eat Raw Tofu?
- Can You Eat Raw Mushrooms?
- Can You Eat Raw Sweet Potato?
- Can You Eat Raw Potatoes?
- Can You Eat Raw Zucchini?
I have been smoking and grilling meat from an early age and enjoy sharing my knowledge and expertise through the hundreds of articles I have written about BBQ. I hope to make everyone’s BBQ journey that little bit easier.