The Good & Bad News About The Humble Onion

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 found the flu virus in the onion. It obviously absorbed the bacteria, therefore, keeping the family healthy.

The Hairdresser & The Onion

A hairdresser 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 her shop. To her surprise, none of her staff got sick.

There is also an account where someone contracted pneumonia, and needless to say was very ill. They cut both ends off an onion, put it into an empty jar and placed the jar next to the sick patient at night. The onion turned black by the morning from the germs, and they began to feel better.

I’ve also read that onions and garlic placed around the room saved many from the black plague years ago. They have powerful antibacterial, antiseptic properties.

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 and it is for this reason that they are so good at preventing us from getting colds and flus, and is the very reason we shouldn’t eat an onion that has been sitting for a time after it has been cut open.

Leftover Onions Are Poisonous

A group of individuals toured a company that makes mayonnaise. Questions about food poisoning came up, and the above information was shared with the company’s chemist. The guy who gave them the tour was a chemistry expert and is involved in developing most of the sauce formula.

During the tour someone asked if we really needed to worry about mayonnaise. People are always worried that mayonnaise will spoil.

The expert’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 quaint essential picnic, with the bowl of potato salad sitting on the table and how everyone blames the mayonnaise when someone gets sick. He explained 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?). He added that 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 that onions are a huge magnet for bacteria, especially uncooked onions.

You should never plan to keep a portion of a sliced onion. He said that 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!)  He said that 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, because it becomes highly poisonous for even a single night and creates toxic bacteria that may cause adverse stomach infections because of excess bile secretions and even food poisoning.

Source unknown.

Tags: Colds, Flu, Garlic, Onions, Pneumonia