Onions May Thwart Osteoporosis: Study
They may give you bad breath, but onions, chives, scallions and similar veggies may help prevent the bone-softening disease osteoporosis, Swiss researchers say.
While dietary calcium and vitamin D are traditionally recommended to prevent osteoporosis, the amino acids in onions may offer an added boost, found scientists at the University of Bern. Rats treated with glutamyl peptide from white onions were significantly less likely to lose bone minerals than those not exposed to the chemical. Writing in an upcoming edition of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the researchers said their next step is to confirm the findings in people.
Some 44 million Americans, mostly post-menopausal women, are at risk of osteoporosis, the scientists said. The National Osteoporosis Foundation projects that number will climb to more than 61 million by 2020, according to an account of the onion study by the Scripps-Howard news service.
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