title: biological dentistry  solving disease symptoms holistically
text: compound found in onions has antiovarian cancer effects 
  sunday october   by david gutierrez staff writer tags cancer prevention  onions  quercetin naturalnews a chemical naturally occurring in onions may be able to suppress the proliferation of ovarian cancer cells and perhaps even initiate cancer cell death according to a study conducted by researchers from kumamoto university in japan and published in the journal scientific reports these particular anticancer effects come from a chemical called onionin a ona the study focused on the effects of ona on the most common form of ovarian cancer epithelial ovarian cancer eoc this type of cancer has a fiveyear survival rate of only  percent it is the th most common female cancer in the united states and the fifth most lethal form of cancer in women as many as  percent of eoc patients relapse after their first course of chemotherapy kills cancer cells suppresses tumor growth in a prior study the researchers found that ona suppressed the tumorpromoting activity of a type of white blood cells known as myeloid cellsin the new study researchers further examined cellbased models of eocs firstly they found that the introduction of ona caused eoc tumor growth to slow further examination showed that ona was inhibiting the tumorboosting activities of myeloidderived suppressor cells mdscs thereby confirming the findings of the prior studyprevious research has suggested that in the presence of cancer mdscs may function to suppress antitumor activity by the rest of the immune systemthe researchers also found that when combined with anticancer drugs ona boosted the ability of the drugs to block cancer proliferationwe found that ona reduced the extent of ovarian cancer cell proliferation induced by coculture with human macrophages the researchers wrote in addition we found that ona directly suppressed cancer cell proliferationthe researchers then performed an additional experiment giving mice with eoc oral treatment with ona and comparing them with a control group they found that the mice given ona lived longer and their tumors did not grow as aggressively no side effects were observed from the treatmentthe researchers concluded that with some additional testing ona could be used as an oral cancer treatmentona is considered useful for the additional treatment of patients with ovarian cancer owing to its suppression of the protumor activation of tumorassociated macrophages and direct cytotoxicity against cancer cells they wrotestudies have also linked onions to a lower risk of stomach and colorectal cancers the overlooked superfood scientists continue to uncover remarkable health benefits of the humble onion which is a staple food in every culture in which it is foundthe benefits of onions start simply with their nutrient profile these vegetables are highly nutrient dense delivering high levels of vitamins minerals and antioxidants with relatively few calories a single cup of chopped onions contains  percent or more of the daily recommended amount of vitamin b vitamin c and manganese and also contains calcium folate iron magnesium phosphorus and potassium in addition to vitamin c onions are high in other antioxidants particularly quercetin  antioxidants help protect the body from free radicals that cause chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancerresearchers attribute many of onions health benefits to quercetin including lower blood pressure and improved cardiovascular health quercetin is also a potent antiinflammatoryother benefits of onions may stem from some of the other nutrients it contains studies have shown that onions can help fight depression an effect that may come in part from their high folate content folate helps prevent a buildup in the body of homocysteine which in turn can suppress the production of moodregulating neurotransmitters excess homocysteine can also interfere with sleep and appetiteonions are a versatile food the entire plant is edible except for the small roots and can be eaten in nearly any form it can be cooked into recipes added raw on top of salads or sandwiches or used as an ingredient in dips and sauces sources for this article include