A Danish study suggests that red onions, and in particular the compound quercitin, may divert energy away from fat-storage to muscle-building, in news that will please all fans of onions, cooked or uncooked.
In recent months we’ve written extensively on various foods you should be eating – to increase your testosterone levels, to ramp up fat loss, to reduce your risks of a whole range of chronic illnesses – and also foods that you should avoid at all costs if you want to preserve your masculinity and continue improving your physique.
Processed food, and one of its principal constituents, vegetable oil, has emerged as a particular nemesis for those looking to live a healthy life, given its ubiquity and the truly terrible effects – including re-patterning the brain along the lines of a drug addict – that regular consumption can induce.
Today’s instalment, however, should be filed under ‘foods you really should be eating’. A Danish study from 2015 shows that red onion, and in particular the compound quercitin, can have a near-miraculous effect on muscle-building, driving energy from other tissues, including fat, directly to the muscles, where it will best be utilised.
The Red Onion Study
Quercitin is also a zinc ionophore and has potent anti-viral properties
The researchers took 40 mice, dividing them into four groups. During a 9-week experiment, they fed the mice in the first group standard chow [LF]. The remaining groups were given food to which the researchers added extra fat [HF].
Of the three HF groups, two were also given either quercitin [HF + Q] or a red onion extract made up mainly of quercitin analogues [HF + RO].
As you’d expect, the mice given extra fat got fatter, but the mice given quercitin or red onion extract became less fat than the mice that were not. Quercetin in either form clearly inhibited fat mass increase.
Another benefit of the quercitin supplementation was increased insulin sensitivity, a topic we’ve discussed recently in a number of articles. Eggs are another food that appear to increase insulin sensitivity.
The researchers show that quercitin has this effect by increasing the mitochondria – the energy-generating powerhouses – in the muscle cells, allowing them to generate more energy. Quercitin does this by up-regulating genes associated with mitochondrial production and function; although the researchers also showed that the free form and the red-onion derivative differed slightly in their precise mechanism of action.
Putting this into action
The good thing about this study, beyond the results themselves, is that the doses given to the animals were modest and can easily be scaled up. If the mice in the HF + Q group had been adult humans, they would have received about 10 milligrams of quercetin per day, with the mice in the HF + RO group receiving a similar dose of analogues.
Quercitin and its analogues are actually to be found in a great many foods. If you have a healthy varied diet, you’re likely to get much higher doses than the mice received. For instance, 200g of kale a day alone will give you 45mg.
Since the study was based partially on red onions, it’s worth saying that red onions, of all the varieties, contain the most quercitin and polyphenols, beneficial plant compounds.
Even better news, for those who like fried onions – and who doesn’t? – is that frying them actually appears to increase the total amount, if only a little.
So here’s to the humble onion, as good for you as it looks – and sounds. Now take it away, Booker!
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