Lily Family Veggies

Continuing with the exploration of Dr Joel Fuhrman's G-BOMBS (as discussed in his books The End of Dieting and Super Immunity), the O part of this formula is onions!  Along with onions, many of the other vegetables of the lily family (allium genus), including garlic, leeks, chives, shallots, and scallions are also included.
Onions and the lily family veggies contribute to our overall health by supporting us on a cardiovascular and immune level.  They help us maintain healthy heart function and balanced blood pressure.  They reduce our risk of developing a number of different cancers.
They also offer great anti-microbial support in their raw form  - having raw garlic when we first feel symptoms of a cold can help stimulate our immune system and reduce the severity of the symptoms/clear the cold more quickly.  
Mincing or finely chopping the lily family veggies makes it easier for us to gain the benefits from them.
Integrating the lily family veggies into our routine is pretty easy - they enhance the flavour of most meals that we would make and go well in sauces, stir fries, soups.  They are an easy food to eat on a daily basis and doing so, offers us great ongoing overall health support.
For people with digestive concerns, raw lily family veggies can be particularly difficult, so it is best to stick with cooked forms only if we note any concerns after eating them in their raw form.
As well, from a FODMAP diet perspective (which is a therapeutic diet to treat Irritable Bowel Syndrome and is based on problematic (for some people) naturally occurring sugars and alcohols in different foods), the lily family veggies are considered the most likely ones to cause digestive concerns, so for some people, they do need to be avoided entirely.