Alliums....a powerhouse group of superfoods

The benefits of allium foods are highly-touted and are becoming more and more well-known.Alliums are of a few types listed below

• Garlic
• Onion
• Leek
• Scallion
• Shallot
• Great-headed (“elephant”) garlic
• Wild garlic
• Chive
• Chinese chive
• Rakkyo

 What do they contain? they contain a multitude of micro nutrients such as allicin, phosphorus and other volatile and much needed elements. Most of all they contain flavanoids that stimulate the production of glutathione (the tripeptide that is the liver's most potent antioxidant). Glutathione enhances elimination of toxins and carcinogens, putting the allium family of vegetables at the top of the list for foods that can help prevent cancer.

While any consumption of allium foods may be beneficial, the best way to get the nutrients they have to offer is to eat them raw. These make excellent salad vegetables, and they deliver the most flavor and texture when they're uncooked. Alternatively, fresh chopped garlic can be added to cooked dishes in the last few minutes of heat exposure, or onions and shallots can be lightly steamed separate from the main dish to avoid cooking it as much. Dried garlic or onion powder has lost a lot of the beneficial nutrients of the fresh vegetable, but it's more concentrated and can still be beneficial. Scientists have yet to credit a single compound as responsible for the benefits of Allium vegetables. Garlic, for instance, contains more than 200 different compounds! Of vitamins and minerals, garlic supplies high levels of phosphorus, potassium, sulphur and zinc; moderate measures of selenium and vitamins A and C; and lesser amounts of calcium, magnesium, sodium, iron, manganese and B-vitamins. Alliums also contain flavonoids and other antioxidants, essential oils and fatty acids, amino acids, pectin, carbohydrates and sulphur compounds (notably allicin). Allicin alone reacts with oxygen to produce more than 70 sulphur compounds! So don't ignore alliums. Go for it!