Killing Cancer Cells with Onions

Dallas Chiropractor Best Practices

Research Commentary;

Onions to Fight Cancer

Antiproliferative activity of Ontario grown onions against colorectal adenocarcinoma cells

Abdulmonem I.Murayyan^aCynthya M.Manohar^aGordonHayward^bSureshNeethirajan^a

Research Reviewed by Dr. Travis Downs

Summarized Review Conclusions

We know that we are supposed to eat well move well and think well to be healthy as human beings. In this research we find that onions are important when it comes to eating well. It shows that onions (especially red onions) are excellent at killing cancer cells. Onions activate pathways that encourage cancer cells to undergo cell death. They promote an unfavorable environment for cancer cells, and they disrupt communication between cancer cells, which inhibits growth. This happens because onions have a large amount of quercetin, a type of flavonoid that gives fruits and vegetables their colors. So next time you go to the store make sure you get your onions and help fight off cancer. Below you will find direct quotes of the referenced article along with my synopses of the research query, methodology and findings including references used by the research authors.

“Onions, however, are one of the richest sources of flavonoids

and considerably contribute to the overall intake of flavonoids in the human diet.”

Manach et al., 2004; Suleria et al., 2015

“There was approximately a 3.5 –  4-fold increase in the number of cells

undergoing apoptosis in the wells treated with the onion extracts”

Abdulmonem I.Murayyan^aCynthya M.Manohar^aGordonHayward^bSureshNeethirajan^a

“In our study, a minimum treatment concentration of total flavonoid content at 0.01 mg/g of onion was needed to arrest cell growth.”

Abdulmonem I.Murayyan^aCynthya M.Manohar^aGordonHayward^bSureshNeethirajan^a

Introduction to the Research

This research is just one of many that shows how important it is that we eat our raw fruits and vegetables. We want to have a variety of fruits and vegetables because they all have different flavonoids. The higher concentration of flavonoids have shown to decrease the risk of many chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancers. Metabolically, flavonoids are known to have antioxidant activity, free radical scavenging capacity, inhibit membrane lipid peroxidation, inhibit enzyme activity, and are cation chelators. Onions contain one of the highest concentrations of quercetin (a type of flavonoid) which makes it one of the best cancer fighters we can eat. So next time think twice about holding off on the onions and give your body aid in fighting cancer!

Research Methodology

A human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line (Caco-2) was obtained from the American Type Culture Collection (Rockville, MD). Minimum Essential Medium (MEM), fetal bovine serum (FBS), D-glucose, quercetin, myricetin, kaempferol, and L-glutamine were purchased from Sigma Aldrich (St Louis, MO). TrypLE Express, non-essential amino acid solution, and CellEvent™ Caspase-3/7 Green Detection Agent were bought from Invitrogen Corp. (Carlsbad, CA). 100X penicillin with streptomycin antibiotic solution and F12:RPMI 1640 media were obtained from GE Healthcare Life Sciences (Logan, UT). MTS cell proliferation and LDH-cytotoxicity assay kits were purchased from BioVision Inc. (Milipitas, CA). Onions were graciously donated  by the Holland Marsh Growers’Association in Bradford, Ontario.

Research Findings

The present study has investigated the efficacy of five Ontario grown onions in suppressing colon cancer proliferation and apoptosis induction. Extracts supplemented at a total flavonoid concentration of 0.01 mg of quercetin equivalent/g of onion were successful in arresting cell growth and inducing

apoptosis. Total flavonoid content did not correlate well with the observed trends suggesting the presence of other bioactive phytonutrients. All five tested varieties demonstrated similar antiproliferative and apoptotic activity.

Research References

As always with these reviews, these are my takeaways from the article and I encourage you to read the article in its entirety.  The references used in this article by the authors of this article are listed here.

Our Message

Our Doctors at our location near the corner of Mockingbird Ln. and Abrams Rd. love to help our patients to stay healthy. The Chiropractic Care team in Dallas not only relieve back pain, neck pain and headaches, but also teach how reducing stress has been shown to support good health in the research literature. We want to help you know how to be healthy by making good choices on diet, movement and mental health. We are here to help you get out of pain, put the right nutrients in your body and improve you health! And remember, eat your Onions to Fight Cancer!