Interesting e-mail regarding how powerful the onion is. A good read!
ONIONS
In 1919 when the 'flu killed 40 million people there was this Doctor
that visited the many farmers to see if he could help them combat the
flu. Many of the farmers and their family had contracted it and many
died.
The doctor came upon one farmer and, to his surprise, everyone was
very healthy.
When the doctor asked what the farmer was doing that was different,
the wife replied that she had placed an unpeeled onion in a dish in
the rooms of the home, (probably only two rooms back then).
The doctor couldn't believe it and asked if he could have one of the onions.
She gave him one which he placed under the microscope he found the
'flu virus in the onion. It had obviously absorbed the bacteria,
thereby keeping the family healthy.
Now, I heard this story from my hairdresser in AZ. She said that
several years ago many of her employees were coming down with the flu
and so were many of her customers.
The next year she placed several bowls with onions around in her shop
and, to her surprise, none of her staff got sick. It must work... and
no, she is not in the onion business.
The moral of the story is, buy some onions and place them in bowls
around your home.
If you work at a desk, place one or two in your office or under your
desk or even on top somewhere. Try it and see what happens. We did it
last year and we never got the flu.
If this helps you and your loved ones from getting sick, all the
better. If you do get the flu, it just might be a mild case..
What have you to lose? Just a few bucks on onions!!!!
Now there is a P.S. to this...
I sent it to a friend in Oregon who regularly contributes material to
me on health issues and she replied with this most interesting
experience about onions:
Weldon, thanks for the reminder. I don't know about the farmers story,
but I do know that
I contacted pneumonia and needless to say I was very ill. I came
across an article that said to cut both ends off an onion, put one end
on a fork and then place the forked end into an empty jar...placing
the jar next to the sick patient at night. It said the onion would be
black in the morning from the germs.
Sure enough it happened just like that... the onion was a mess and I
began to feel better.
Another thing I read in the article was that onions and garlic placed
around the room saved many from the black plague years ago. They have
powerful antibacterial and antiseptic properties.
This is the other note.
LEFT OVER ONIONS ARE POISONOUS
I have used an onion which has been left in the fridge, and sometimes
I don't use a whole one at one time, so save the other half for later.
Now with this info, I have changed my mind....will buy smaller onions
in the future.
I had the wonderful privilege of touring Mullins Food Products, makers
of mayonnaise. Mullins is huge, and is owned by 11 brothers and
sisters in the Mullins family. My friend, Jeanne, is the CEO.
Questions about food poisoning came up, and I wanted to share what I
learned from a chemist.
The guy who gave us our tour is named Ed - he's one of the brothers.
Ed is a chemistry expert and is involved in developing most of the
sauce formula. He's even developed sauce formula for McDonald's.
Keep in mind that Ed is a food chemistry whiz.
During the tour, someone asked if we really needed to worry about
mayonnaise. People are always worried that mayonnaise will spoil.
Ed's answer will surprise you. He said that all commercially-made Mayo
is completely safe.
"It doesn't even have to be refrigerated. No harm in refrigerating it,
but it's not really necessary." He explained that the pH in mayonnaise
is set at a point that bacteria could not survive in that environment.
He then talked about the picnic, with the bowl of potato salad sitting
on the table and how everyone blames the mayonnaise when someone gets
sick.
Ed says that when food poisoning is reported, the first thing the
officials look for is when the 'victim' last ate ONIONS and where
those onions came from (in the potato salad?). Ed says it's not the
mayonnaise (as long as it's not homemade Mayo) that spoils in the
outdoors. It's probably the onions, and if not the onions, it's the
POTATOES.
He explained, onions are a huge magnet for bacteria, especially
uncooked onions. You should never plan to keep a portion of a sliced
onion.. it's not even safe if you put it in a zip-lock bag and put it
in your refrigerator. It's already contaminated enough just by being
cut open and out for a bit, that it can be a danger to you.
Ed says if you take the leftover onion and cook it like crazy you'll
probably be okay, but if you slice that leftover onion and put on your
sandwich, you're asking for trouble. Both the onions and the moist
potato in a potato salad will attract and grow bacteria faster than
any commercial mayonnaise will even begin to break down.
So, how's that for news? Take it for what you will.
I (the author) am going to be very careful about my onions from now on.
For some reason, I see a lot of credibility coming from a chemist and
a company that produces millions of pounds of mayonnaise every year.
Also, dogs should never eat onions. Their stomachs cannot metabolize onions.
Please remember it is dangerous to cut onion and use or cook the next day.
It becomes highly poisonous for even a single night and creates toxic
bacteria which may cause adverse stomach infections because of excess
bile secretions and even food poisoning.