Don’t Throw Away Those Onion Skins They Are Nutritional Powerhouses
- Apr 4, 2022
- 6 min read
Written by: Cheryl Meyer, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Save Your Onion Skins, They Are Loaded With Nutrients for Your Body
Don’t throw those onion skins away. They are loaded with nutrition.
I am writing a course on why Food Quality Matters, and How to Get the Biggest Bang for your Buck when you buy real whole organic foods. I want to inspire you to eat the rainbow from a farm as close to you as possible so that you enjoy all the gifts of the ‘farmacy” so that you don’t need pills from the Pharmacy.
One of the things that I have a class on is food waste. In the US 40% of the food we have goes to waste. Mostly because we don't know all these little tricks and my course has many to share with you. But I want to wet your whistle by freely sharing about peels, and today I want to discuss onion peels.
Why do plants produce phytonutrients? To protect themselves, so it makes sense that the concentration would be on the outer skin. Phytonutrients protect the plant from UV rays, from funguses and disease, and even from pests eating them, and they often will repel animal life. What’s amazing is that these amazing chemicals are often incredibly helpful for us as well and we are just starting to learn how to harness all these healing chemicals in plants.
There is more nutrition in the peel than in the flesh of the onion than in the onion itself. We need the "flesh", it’s a probiotic so it feeds our good gut bacteria, so it’s very healthy as well, but save the skins and get the rest of the amazing benefits that this vegetable has to offer.
The skin is loaded with vitamins A, C and E. It is also loaded with B9, B6 and potassium. It has phytonutrients and the most important is quercetin.
Quercetin has become a favorite of mine since I have been studying health. I have had skin rashes and hay fever my whole life. I now take a quercetin supplement with nettle and bromelain, and it works better than any antihistamine ever did. The big pharm antihistamine causes other troubles in the body. The one I was taking has now been shown to cause dementia. Yikes, so quercetin is my miracle to keep all my allergies at bay.
Onion skins also have Sulfur compounds. These are mainly sulfides and polysulfides, which may protect against cancer.
And onion skins have Thiosulfinates. These sulfur-containing compounds may inhibit the growth of harmful microorganisms and prevent the formation of blood clots.
Keep onions and their skins away from your animals. They can be poisonous. However, the phytonutrient Quercetin is also good for dog lovers because if your pup is suffering from skin problems, quercetin is nature’s natural antihistamine, check out Dr. Karen Beckers website. Quercetin can resolve the issue without steroids, (which again cause other issues). However, WARNING, Just don’t give the onion quercetin to your dog, get it from other sources or as a supplement from a holistic vet. Onion is poisonous to our beloved dogs and cats.
To use the skin from any fruit and veggie, you MUST buy ORGANIC. One of the purposes of my new course is how can you get the biggest bang for your buck by buying quality food that doesn’t have herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides on it.
Organic eliminates the toxins and you can’t wash them off, they have grown up right into the plant. They have also gone down to our groundwater and come out of our water tap and go into our streams, rivers and oceans killing off wild animals and nature, and they go up into the air and cause pollution, so organic is more important that you can imagine.
As I discuss each plant in my course, I have been looking up what is sprayed on it. Even if it is on the “clean” list that EWG.org publishes each year, it’s got all kinds of poison sprayed on it.
Ok, so back to onions. To start, find onions that have lots of skins and that completely cover the onion without breaks. When you get it home, it can stay on the kitchen counter. Do not wash it until you are ready to use it. And then wash it in cold water and a little bit of baking soda. In my house, we now take the skins and put them into a plastic baggie in our freezer and we are accumulating onion skins for our next use. This is true for white, brown, and purple onions. The brown has a brown dye in them, and the red has a purple dye, red onions also contain high levels of anthocyanins, beneficial pigments that are also anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial, and thus can contribute to healthy skin.
So, what can we do with the skins?
At my house, we make soup a lot, so the skins get added when we start to make broth. We have just been putting them right into the pot and then straining them out later, but you could also put them in a nylon stocking so that they are easier to remove.
Add it when cooking rice or quinoa to add flavor to the dish.
What else can you do?
Make a tea. Put them in hot water and boil them for 10 minutes. This tea has many uses.
You can gargle with it to get rid of a sore throat, gargling every hour for relief.
You can drink it before bed to sleep better
Drink it to eliminate leg cramps at night.
You can use it on your hair as a rinse to eliminate dandruff.
You can dye your light hair to a golden brown with it.
You can just drink it, it has so many benefits from lowering high blood pressure, it will lower excess cholesterol, and it is good for your skin.
It slows aging.
The tea can even stabilize blood sugar.
If you don’t like the taste, brew it with green tea. Adding green tea can help boost the bioavailability of the epicatechins—the main beneficial compounds, like EGCG, in green tea. EGCG can combat inflammation, boost weight loss, and help fight off various chronic diseases, like heart disease and diabetes.
Dabbing the onion skin liquid can kill fungal infections like athletes’ foot.
It can help heal wounds and sooth insect bites.
It can kill parasites in the intestine.
Onion skins are loaded with fiber, so grind them in with a pestle and mortar and add 1 teaspoon to breads or savory dishes.
You can even dye Easter eggs with them. They will even dye fabric.
And in the end, the onion skins are great if you make your own compost.
You have more than amortized the extra you spent to make the onion an organic onion. Food Quality Matters, and I want you to learn how to get the biggest bang for your buck. Your body will be grateful, your family will be grateful, and the environment will be grateful.
If you go to my website cherylmhealthmuse.com on the right-hand border you can sign up for my newsletter. My newsletter will alert you when my next classes are beginning.
I will also be running my Ditch the SAD Standard American Diet classes again, and I am getting rave reviews. As my mentor has taught me, I have proof of concept now, and am influencing other people’s health. In four short weeks, people are getting past their addiction to the sugar and chemicals in processed and fast foods but even better they are starting to Feel Great.
The testimonials just keep rolling in from my first course. You can read them here
https://cherylmhealthmuse.com/2021/04/30/testimonials-from-april-sugar-detox-2021/
Start to eat today for your future health. You will be so glad that you did.
Cheryl Meyer, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Cheryl Meyer suffered from autoimmune disease. By eliminating hundreds of toxins, she reversed her pain. Cheryl has a BA from UC-Berkeley and is a health coach from IIN. Cheryl is an award-winning author, international bestseller, health coach, speaker, local tv host, and guest podcaster. Cheryl has written four books on health and toxins available here. Her podcast is on Voice America. Cheryl specifically works with clients with chronic illness giving them hope and helping them find solutions. It is never too late to start healthy habits. Cheryl is available to speak about the toxins in our world that are making us ill. She is a sought-after expert on toxins, in our food, cleaning, water, minds, including toxic stress and toxic lack of sleep. She also talks about the impact of toxins on our children and our pet’s health. Contact Cheryl for one on one coaching or speaking at cherylmhealthmuse@gmail.com. Eliminating toxins is a crucial step to regain wellness.
