What do you find when you peel away all the layers of an onion? Well, besides smelly fingers, you may also find the key to a healthy heart. British researchers at The Institute of Food Research have reported that a flavonoid found in onions called “quercetin”–it s also found in apples and tea –lowers the amount of inflammation in your arteries which can lead to heart disease. How much should you eat? The jury is still out on that question. Don t gorge on an all-onion diet just yet. Smaller, moderate amounts -about 100-200 mg– appeared to work best at lowering some forms of inflammation. The critical link between flavonoids and health came to light from studies on the so-called “French paradox”. As noted by Jack Challum in The Nutrition Reporter, the French “eat almost four times more butter and three times more lard-and have higher cholesterol levels and blood pressures-than do Americans. Yet the French are 2.5 times less likely than Americans to die of coronary heart disease.” Red wine, red grapes, tea, apples, garlic, and onions all contain flavonoids in varying degrees. It s not clear whether the effect on inflammation of the arteries is more pronounced from diets rich in one flavonoid versus another. But one thing is clear. The best approach is to include a variety of flavonoids in your daily 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables. Since researchers at AC Nielsen have shown that only about 12% of Americans eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, it s not likely we re getting enough flavonoids to do us any good. Susan M Callahan is a Contributing Columnist to http://CollectiveWizdom.com, a reader created on-line newspaper featuring articles on health, relationships and life.