tejaswrangler Loc: South Texas

With the Flu season upon us, this might be worth considering. This was sent to me via e-mail and I figured it would be of use to some of you folks. Tejaswrangler, South Texas :)

PLEASE READ TO THE END: IMPORTANT

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 this 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 and place it under
the microscope. She gave him one and when he did this, he did find the flu
virus in the onion. It obviously absorbed the bacteria, therefore, keeping
the family healthy.

Now, I heard this story from my hairdresser. 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. To her surprise, none of her staff got sick. It must
work. Try it and see what happens. We did it last year and we never got the flu.

Now there is a P.S. to this for I sent it to a friend in Oregon who
regularly contributes material to me on health issues. She replied with this
most interesting experience about onions:

Thanks for the reminder. I don't know about the farmer's 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 it into an
empty jar, and place 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, antiseptic properties.

This is the other note.

Lots of times when we have stomach problems we don't know what to blame.
Maybe it's the onions that are to blame. Onions absorb bacteria is the
reason they are so good at preventing us from getting colds and flu and is
the very reason we shouldn't eat an onion that has been sitting for a time
after it has been cut open.

LEFT OVER ONIONS ARE POISONOUS

I had the wonderful privilege of touring Mullins Food Products, Makers of
mayonnaise. Questions about food poisoning came up, and I wanted to share
what I learned from a chemist.

Ed, who was our tour guide, 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. Ed 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 summer 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.. He says
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 (and doubly watch out for those onions you
put in your hotdogs at the baseball park!). 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.

Also, dogs should never eat onions. Their stomachs cannot metabolize onions.

Please remember it is dangerous to cut an onion and try to use it to 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.
:)

donrent Loc: Punta Gorda , Fl

When anyone would get sick with something like the flu, my grandmother would make Onion Syrup..... Thick sweet and tasted like crap... Horrible.... Gaggling.... But by the morning you were up and around without any illness...

tschmath Loc: Los Angeles

Sorry to burst everyone's bubble, but it ain't true:

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/medical/a/swine_flu_facts_onions_and_flu.htm

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

Notice how the email is the same? That's your first clue.

tejaswrangler Loc: South Texas

tschmath, thanks for doing the research that I should have done prior to posting this article. Taught me a lesson to research prior to posting rather than accept something with blind faith from a long time friend with good intentions. Tejaswrangler :)

tlbuljac Loc: Oklahoma

damn....that makes me want to cry

donrent Loc: Punta Gorda , Fl

Seems awful funny that onion crap my granny made worked wonders...

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

But a friend of someone who knew someone who new a man who had a sister who worked for the other person and lived nearby but always sends reliable articles said so!

alf85 Loc: Northumberland, UK.

Thank you for the links, but as it say's Analysis: There's no scientific basis for this old wives' tale, but were is the scientific proof to show that it does not work, anyone can quote, that's how story's are made, regards, Alf.

cherylpeters Loc: Kentucky

I, use Vitamin D-3 and never get a cold or flu eat year. Dr.Oz said it also.

cherylpeters Loc: Kentucky

Each year. Sorry.

Spyder Loc: Pennsylvania

Don't always believe Snopes .......... they make mistakes also. I believe the onion's ability to help cure your ills - I've tried it and IT WORKS!!!

wrr Loc: SEK

75% of healing is believing!

littlebug Loc: woburn ma

thank you for posting this and post more I sent this to some of my friends who also enjoyed this

GPappy Loc: Finally decided to plop down, Clover, S.C.

Why would there be any scientific research about raw onions and medicine. Even if it is proved, and there aren't any 'concoctions' added from the drug companies or medical field in general, it would NEVER be admitted anyway. My grandparents made onion soup, probably like donrent's syrup, that seemed to work. When it was on the stove and cooking, you placed your head in the steamy atmosphere above the boiling pot and breathed in the moist onioney aroma. It stunk, it tasted bad and when it was over you just felt better. Maybe it was because being sick wasn't as bad as the cure? My kids and grandkids and now my great grandchildren all believe that this remedy/cure helps so what's the harm?

littlebug Loc: woburn ma

no pun intended I do believe positive thinking works