Onion

Nutritional Value

4 / 5

Organ Affinities

Tonifies

Therapeutic Properties

AHM Properties

Onion brings warmth to the middle burner, breaks up cold stagnation, cuts through damp and phlegm, and gets Qi moving. It reaches the Lung to push out wind-cold, making it one of the most practical Yang-supporting foods in everyday cooking. Cooking onion draws out its sweetness and makes it more nourishing to the Spleen, while eating it raw keeps its sharper, phlegm-clearing edge.

Onions are one of the richest dietary sources of quercetin, a well-documented anti-inflammatory flavonoid that inhibits NF-kB signaling and reduces inflammatory cytokine production, consistent with their AHM role as a warming, dispersing herb.