Thank you for your research. I'd take all of this with a grain of sodium chloride, however. With exception to the Taoist and Hindu observations, this is the reductionist approach that our current dysfunctional medical model is based upon. Without getting into a long-winded discussion at this late date, backed by research links, I'd like to point out that the consumption of alcohol can damage the liver. But small amount of alcohol create a phenomenon called enzyme induction that forces the liver to produce enzymes that detoxify the blood. Small amounts of alcohol are like making your liver do pushups. While massive amounts of alcohol will give your liver cirrhosis, small amounts make it stronger and increase your level of health.

We don't eat many plants that have strong flavors, especially herbs, because they are bitter. Bitterness is an indication that the plant has self-protective mechanisms built into it. Isolating out these compounds and then administering them to rodents in large dosages often produces negative results. That has little bearing on the reality of their edibility in small quantities. Alliums are used mostly as flavoring agents. Few people sit down and make an entire meal of them like they would wheat or potatoes (which also have isolates that are unhealthy). It's well proven that sulphur compounds fight cancer and that the absence of these might contribute to the cause of some cancers.

We could analyze physical activity and prove that it causes muscle damage. It does. That's how weightlifters become muscle-bound behemoths. The muscles break down due to the exertion and then accommodate the the imposed strains by rising to the occasion: repairing and growing stronger. If we took the muscle damage paradigm and applied it to behavior we would conclude that lying completely still in total physical inactivity would be the best mode for our health. That's not true and we all know it.

I think alliums slightly tax our metabolism and make it stronger and that's why, in a holistic model, they appear to be healthful.

I appreciate your inquisitive attitude and thorough analysis. Following you now.