Anyone heard of this??? Onions keep Germs at bay???

[weekendgirl66]

not sure where to post this,, someone mentioned that onions peeled and both end chopped of attract any cold germs that may linger around the house this time of year ( ONE IN A ROOM I WAS LED TO BELIEVE!!) Has anyone else ever heard of this?? I think i may give it a try ( but not sure how long i will be able to stand the smell of onions

Just found this

www.snopes.com/medical/swineflu/onion.asp

I recently saw a FB post on this, though it went further to suggest always keeping one in the fridge to "soak up germs" and even putting one in a sock to "extract germs" somehow through the skin. It was a nonsense.

But there certainly is truth to the health benefits of onions - if you eat them. Raw onions and raw garlic are natural anti-biotics, and boost the immune system. Whenever DH or I are coming down with a cold or bug we put plenty of both into a salad - it stinks but really does the trick.

Not very pleasant for everyone else around you who has to sniff your breath of course...

I'm not sure about keeping germs at bay, but my doctor gave me a tip decades ago that we have used successfully ever since.

For earache, make an onion compress by finely mincing hslf an onion and placing it in a muslin square. Secure it so the onion can't fall out and then hold it against the ear.
I found it worked best when I put a hot water bottle on a pillow with the compress on that and got the patient to lie with their poorly ear on it.

It works, don't know why but it does.

I heard this from my grandmother - just a cut onion, in a room. It seems a bit flaky and I wouldn't put much faith in it - but you can definitely make preparations of onions to be used medicinally.

If the 'attracting cold germs' thing is true - how many of you really want to eat an onion that has been cut and left uncovered for any period of time. I certainly don't.

It sounds stupid. Germs can't be magically absorbed from the air. Why wouldn't you eat one which had been cut and left? I've always done that and never got ill from it.

My MIL used to cut up onion and cover it with sugar and give her kids the resultant syrupy juice when they had colds. No idea if there is any reasoning behind but she swore by it apparently.

yup Fuzzy that is a family remedy here too

www.snopes.com/medical/swineflu/onion.asp
"While this folk belief is indeed an old one, there's precious little reason to place any store in it. No scientific studies back it, and common sense rules it out: cold and flu viruses are spread by contact, not by their nasty microbes floating loosely in the air where the almighty onion can supposedly seek out and destroy them."

Also this:
www.snopes.com/food/tainted/cutonions.asp

Thought it sounded like bollocks A friend shared the long story from both of those articles on facebook and said "See! This is why I don't eat onions!"

They are helpful as a remedy when eaten, but that's a totally different thing. And just as valid in a nice chicken soup or something.

I've always thrown away half an onion if it's been cut and peeled, because I thought it would be full of germs by the next day! Never realised it was all a myth. (Didn't they used to put onions by the bed of people with the plague? Something like that)
Anyway, no more throwing away half eaten onions...