Onion, garlic and leek belong to the Allium family of bulb-shaped plants. They are a part of daily cooking since the times of ancient Greece and Rome, and currently used as foods all over the world. The Allium family is rich in nutrients such as sulphides, arginine, oligosaccarides, flavonoides, chromium, potasium, selenium and vitamins B and C. Health benefits consist in their natural antibiotic and antioxidant proprieties that fight cancer by preventing cell damage. In addition to cancer protection, the allyl sulfides of garlic, onions, and leek decrease the blood clots formation in human body, they lower the levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or bad cholesterol, and decrease total cholesterol, both risk factors for coronary heart disease.

Onion is the number two vegetable, after tomatoes, cultivated everywhere on earth. Onion has antioxidants and contains quercitin a flavonoid that may help fight or prevent cancer. Onion prevents arthritis, fights infections, fevers and asthma, maintains hearth health, prevents osteoporosis, may lover blood pressure and triglycerides, improves gastrointestinal health and prevents constipation. The stronger the onion-with more tears when cutting, the better for health. Protection against disease and infection is achieved when onion is eaten raw.

Garlic contains allicin a chemical produced when garlic is chopped, chewed or bruised. Allicin is an antimicrobial agent that prevents the formation of a carcinogen-nitrosamine. A diet rich in fresh garlic-flavored foods can improve health by lovering high blood pressure and bad cholesterol. Recent scientific studies show that garlic stimulates T-lymphocytes and macrophage action, promotes interleukin-1 levels, and supports natural killer cells. Strong activity of these important group of cells strengthens the immune system’s function. Both, traditional and microwave cooking destroy allicin and annihilate the health benefits. Maximum levels of allicin are released only from the fresh garlic clove. Eating one fresh clove of garlic a day may lover the risk of esophageal, stomach, colon, pancreas, breast and prostate cancer.

Leek contains B vitamins and protective antioxidants including carotenoids, lutein, and zeaxanthin. The green parts of leek are very nutritious. Leek is also a good source of allyl sulfides. It may play a role in preventing certain types of cancer. Leek has lower amounts of allyl sulfides than onion or garlic, but has high enough concentrations to protect against cancer and heart disease. Medical research has been shown that leek reduces bad cholesterol and increases good cholesterol levels in the body. Leek also helps keep down high blood pressure. Eating leeks at least two times per week can reduce the risk of colon and prostate cancers. Leek is  rich in kaempferol which can reduce a woman’s risk of ovarian cancer by up to 40%.

Sometimes the chicken transport is funny and unusual indeed …

By Gabor Timis

Despite the long held idea that saturated fat causes artery blockage by raising blood cholesterol and thus contributes to the risk of having a heart attack (diet-heart hypothesis), the scientific evidence is just not there!

1. A recent large study published in the Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism reported an “Expert Consultation” held jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the US. The consultation took a comprehensive look at the relationship between fats, physiology and health.
You can read the full article here
The experts assessing the relationship between saturated fats and heart disease looked at two lines of evidence: epidemiological studies and intervention studies.

Epidemiological studies look at the relationship between factors (such as smoking and lung cancer, or in this case saturated fat and heart disease) in populations.
These studies can only show associations between things, but cannot really tell us if one thing is causing another.
However, if saturated fat indeed causes heart disease, then the epidemiological evidence should show that higher levels of saturated fat are associated with a higher risk of heart disease (also known as coronary heart disease or CHD).

According to this report, there is no association.
The report states:

“Intake of SFA (saturated fatty acids) was not significantly associated with CHD mortality”

and

“SFA intake was not significantly associated CHD events (heart attacks)”

In intervention studies, people are subjected to some sort of intervention (such as a medication).
In this case, the intervention was to put people on a low saturated fat diet and see how they compare to individuals who are not subjected to this change.
Unlike epidemiological studies, intervention studies can prove cause-and-effect links between things.

The report found that:

” …fatal CHD was not reduced by the low-fat diets …”

2. Another huge study published last week in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looked at the relationship between saturated fat and heart disease through a meta-analysis of 21 epidemiological studies.
This review monitored 347,747 people over a period of between 5 and 23 years.

The conclusion:

A meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD (coronary heart disease) or CVD (cardiovascular disease).
More data are needed to elucidate whether CVD risks are likely to be influenced by the specific nutrients used to replace saturated fat.

3. A third large study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine last year looked at a systematic review of the evidence linking a wide variety of nutritional factors and heart disease.
According to this review, there are no appropriately conducted randomised controlled trials that support the notion that cutting back on saturated fat is good for the prevention of heart disease.

The dietary factors which were associated with an increased risk of heart disease were:

A higher intake of trans-fatty acids
A higher intake of foods of high glycemic index or high glycemic load

Factors associated with a statistically significant reduced risk of heart disease included:

Higher alcohol consumption
Higher dietary beta-carotene consumption
Higher dietary folate consumption
Higher total folate consumption (from diet and supplements combined)
Higher fibre consumption
Higher fish consumption
Higher marine-derived omega-3 fat consumption
Higher fruit consumption
Higher nut consumption
Higher vegetable consumption
Higher monounsaturated fat consumption
Higher dietary vitamin C consumption
Higher total vitamin C consumption
Higher dietary vitamin E consumption
Higher total vitamin E consumption
Higher wholegrain consumption

Saturated fat neither increased nor decreased the risk of heart disease.

Therefore, if saturated fat is truly so scary, then why don’t people who eat more of it have more heart attacks?

Well, the low-fat diet-heart hypothesis has been controversial for many decades and it looks like it finally ends here. It should!
It’s been kept alive by selective citation of inadequate evidence, wishful thinking, and by powerful agricultural and food companies.
It may well have played an unintended role in the current epidemics of obesity, lipid abnormalities, type II diabetes, and metabolic syndromes.

Indeed, you can safely eat organic meat, such as grass-fed beef, pork, chicken, duck, geese, lamb etc. Together with their fatty parts.

Source: Fats and Fatty Acids in Human Nutrition. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 2009; 55 (1-3).
Siri-Tarino PW, et al. Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease Am J Clin Nutr. January 2010
Mente A, et al. A Systematic Review of the Evidence Supporting a Causal Link Between Dietary Factors and Coronary Heart Disease. Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(7):659-669.