I recently read this article on Facebook and thought it so fascinating, I wanted to blog about it!
~ ONIONS ~ ONIONS ~ ONIONS ~ 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 families 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.
Original source: unknown to me.
