Very
interesting - suggest you read all of the
following
Very
important subject.. especially for those who love to eat
onions.
In
1919 when the flu killed 40 million people, there was a Doctor
that visited many farmers to see if he could help
them
combat
this flu, as many of the farmers and their families had
contracted it and many had
died.
The
doctor came upon this one farmer and, to his surprise,
everyone in his family 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 obliged and
when
he tested it, he found that the onion was riddled with flu
virus. It had obviously absorbed the bacteria and
therefore,
I
heard this story from my hairdresser: she said that several
years ago, many of her employees were coming down with the flu
and
also
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 (and no, she is not in the onion
business).
So
the sensible answer would seem to be, buy some onions and
place them in bowls around your home. If you work at a desk,
place
one or two in your office (under your desk or even a
windowsill). Try it and see what happens. We did it last year
and none
of
us contracted the flu. if this helps you and your loved ones
from getting sick, all the better. If you do get the flu, it
just
Whatever...what
have you to lose? Just a few pennies on
onions!!
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 farmers story, but I do remember that I
contracted 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."
Here
is another point: LEFT OVER ONIONS ARE
POISONOUS!!
I
have often used an onion which has been left in the fridge and
sometimes don't use a whole one at a time and so save the
other half for later.
Now
with this information, I have changed my habits and buy
smaller onions!
I
had the wonderful privilege of touring Mullins Food
Products,makers of mayonnaise. Mullins is huge and is owned by
11 brothers and sisters
of
the Mullins family. My friend, Jeanne, is the
CEO.
Questions
about food poisoning came up and I wanted to share what I'd
learned from a chemist. The guy who gave us our tour is
named Ed.
Ed
is one of the brothers and a chemistry expert who is involved
in developing most of the sauce formula. He's even developed a
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, as he said that all commercially made Mayo is
completely safe.
"It
doesn't even have to be refrigerated- there's no harm in
refrigerating it, but it's not really necessary", he
explained. He said that the pH
in
mayonnaise
is set at an environmental point that bacteria could not
survive in and he then talked about the quintessential 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 that it's not the mayonnaise (as long as it's not
homemade Mayo) that spoils in the outdoors, it's the onions
and/or the potatoes
(ever
seen a potato go black? Thought
so..)
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
and
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 exposed to the air for a while and can be a real danger to
you (and doubly watch out for those onions you have put in
your hotdogs
and
burgers at the vendors!).
Ed
says that if you take the leftover onion and cook it like
crazy you'll probably be OK, but if you slice that leftover
onion and put it on your
sandwich,
then 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 take to even begin breaking
down.
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
And
another point: dogs should never eat onions. Their stomachs
cannot metabolize onions.
Please
remember it is dangerous to cut onions to cook the next day.
They become highly poisonous even if just left overnight and
create toxic'
bacteria
which may cause adverse stomach infections because of excess
bile secretions and even food
poisoning.
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