Researchers painstakingly studied 140 common foods to find out if any contribute to heart health. They were astounded to discover one shone through. And you may be surprised to find out its a root veggie you eat (almost) every day…
Classic French Onion Soup: Some folks’ preferred way to consume onions!
To ‘know your onions’ traditionally means you know enough about the subject in play at the moment to be considered an expert. New science suggests, if you like onions, your genes ‘know their onions’ about blood pressure…
What they did
Researchers at University of Queensland (Australia) undertook a massive data-mining analysis of in-formation on 160,000 subjects who took part in a long-term UK health statistics program. They were specifically interested in associations between blood pressure and 140 food-liking traits were tested in UK Biobank Study participants aged 37 to 73 years.
What they found
The results, published in the learned journal BMC Medicine, showed significant connections between certain genetically-determined food preferences and certain health conditions.
Specifically, the study showed a genetic tendency to like onions was associated with lower blood pressure and a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.
The takeaway
Aside from being good news for onion lovers, the study demonstrated that certain genetic predis-positions, which manifest themselves in preferences for certain foods, might in future be used by physicians to help them diagnose and treat patients by better understanding how diet drives chronic disease.
Much more research is needed, the team notes, to identify hard connections between various food preferences and specific diseases and conditions.
My take
This could be a major breakthrough in diagnostics – ultimately based on a simple questionnaire doctors could ask patients to fill out, checking off whether they like or don’t like certain foods – which are associated with certain ills.
We’ll keep an eye on this line of inquiry as it unfolds and expands over the coming months and years…
~ Maggie J.