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Topic: Sliced onion... can it kill germs?
Jeanniebean Joined Wed 01/30/08 Posts: 40028	Tue 02/21/12 09:43 AM
An email circulating claims that an onion, sliced off at the ends will absorb germs and air born viruses. Is there any truth to that or is it an old wives tale?

tara48 Joined Thu 02/24/11 Posts: 188	Tue 02/21/12 09:45 AM
not a wives tale, :) cut one in half, leave in on the bedside table of someone who is ill....it will be black in the morning from the bacteria in the air it absorbed and the ill person is feeling better. Google has quite a bit on the subject, :)

tara48 Joined Thu 02/24/11 Posts: 188	Tue 02/21/12 09:51 AM
The onion is a warming, stimulating and penetrating herb. It is used in soups and even cough syrups. But you don't have to eat it to experience its healing affects. Apply them externally as a poultice and inhale and feel their pungent effects. Onions bring heat to the area and this action brings the fever to that part of the body to control how far the infection spreads. You can also cut them in slices and put them in a bowl by your bed at night or in any room in the house. It is said they absorb the viruses and bacteria from the air. A doctor during the 1918 Spanish flu discovered a farmer and his family doing this very thing and they did not catch the flu, so the story goes. Onions are anti-bacterial, ant-viral, and anti-parasitic. They are rich in vitamin C, potassium, chromium, fiber, manganese and vitamin B6. So eat onions every day, learn to make poultices and syrups and continue a 5,000 year old remedy. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3117168

Spidercmb Joined Fri 04/27/07 Posts: 13137	Tue 02/21/12 10:04 AM
Onions placed about the home fight the flu virus.

Jeanniebean Joined Wed 01/30/08 Posts: 40028	Tue 02/21/12 10:04 AM
not a wives tale, :) cut one in half, leave in on the bedside table of someone who is ill....it will be black in the morning from the bacteria in the air it absorbed and the ill person is feeling better. Google has quite a bit on the subject, :) My sister just tried it last night. She is feeling much better today.

Optomistic69 Joined Mon 10/10/11 Posts: 5173	Tue 02/21/12 10:07 AM
not a wives tale, :) cut one in half, leave in on the bedside table of someone who is ill....it will be black in the morning from the bacteria in the air it absorbed and the ill person is feeling better. Google has quite a bit on the subject, :) My sister just tried it last night. She is feeling much better today. What was wrong with her?

Jeanniebean Joined Wed 01/30/08 Posts: 40028	Tue 02/21/12 10:09 AM
not a wives tale, :) cut one in half, leave in on the bedside table of someone who is ill....it will be black in the morning from the bacteria in the air it absorbed and the ill person is feeling better. Google has quite a bit on the subject, :) My sister just tried it last night. She is feeling much better today. What was wrong with her? She had been sickly all day. Had spent the day in bed. Flu symptoms.

prashant01 Joined Wed 05/06/09 Posts: 14148	Tue 02/21/12 10:15 AM
We cut & apply onion on skin everywhere ( Excluding genitals )for recovering from heatstroke. No medicine works better & faster than it.

Optomistic69 Joined Mon 10/10/11 Posts: 5173	Tue 02/21/12 10:48 AM
If this catches on the price of onions will skyrocket.

prashant01 Joined Wed 05/06/09 Posts: 14148	Tue 02/21/12 10:59 AM
In india,We experience huge price variations every year in it's prices. That is failure of govt.'s planning & control over agriculture...some year onions prices touches the sky & some years poor farmers have to throw out them as even transportation cost too can;t be recovered by selling them. I think still proper preserving technics are not developed for onions.

Torgo70 Joined Fri 06/27/08 Posts: 27387	Tue 02/21/12 11:37 AM
Eating a whole onion will cure you of being kissed.

Jeanniebean Joined Wed 01/30/08 Posts: 40028	Tue 02/21/12 11:48 AM
Eating a whole onion will cure you of being kissed. At least there will be no germs passed, even it you do kiss.

soufiehere Joined Sat 10/24/09 Posts: 45395	Tue 02/21/12 12:35 PM
Close to an onion.. I had a wart on my toe. A friend told me to cut in half a garlic clove, and bandaid it to the wart. You can feel it burn. Wart gone, never to return. So, I am believing this onion stuff.

Optomistic69 Joined Mon 10/10/11 Posts: 5173	Tue 02/21/12 12:46 PM
I use a hell of a lot of Onions and Garlic when cooking.

massagetrade Joined Thu 02/22/07 Posts: 8505	Tue 02/21/12 01:11 PM
An email circulating claims that an onion, sliced off at the ends will absorb germs and air born viruses. Is there any truth to that or is it an old wives tale? I believe that onions have a very mild antiseptic effect, possibly due only to its ph, which I believe is mildly acidic. But the snopes article that Spider linked to is correct - leaving onions around the house will not keep your air clean of viruses. Also, onions turn black due to oxidation, not from cleaning the air.

massagetrade Joined Thu 02/22/07 Posts: 8505	Tue 02/21/12 01:12 PM
Also, onions turn black due to oxidation, not from cleaning the air. Unless you consider 'removing oxygen' to be 'cleaning the air'

Bushidobillyclub Joined Fri 05/11/07 Posts: 5689	Tue 02/21/12 01:15 PM Edited by Bushidobillyclub on Tue 02/21/12 01:18 PM
There are many studies on the anti-bacteria properties of many plants, onions one among many. If you think about it, it really makes sense. From an evolutionary perspective all life is battling bacteria, even other bacteria. So compounds that restrict the growth of bacteria are everywhere. Not EXACTLY what you were looking for but I did find this over at NIH.gov. Abstract This study was carried out to understand the antibacterial properties of some spice plants before and after heat treatment in boiling water. The samples included the core and the outer layers of onion, the white and the green parts of green onion, garlic bulb, ginger, ginger root, sweet pepper, chili pepper, brown pepper, and mustard. The test microorganisms included Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus vulgaris, Staphylococcus aureus, Mycobacterium phlei, Streptococcus faecalis, Bacillus cereus, and Micrococcus luteus. Raw garlic bulb could inhibit all of the test strains. The antibacterial activities of green onion are slightly weak than that of onion. However, green onion could inhibit P. aeruginosa and M. luteus, but onion could inhibit E. coli, P. vulgaris, S. faecalis, and B. cereus. Ginger and ginger root could only inhibit M. luteus. Chili pepper could inhibit V. parahaemolyticus and P. vulgaris. Brown pepper could also inhibit P. vulgaris. Sweet pepper and mustard showed no antibacterial activity to all of the test strains. In general, antibacterial components in the spice plants were heat labile. All the spices tested lost their antibacterial activities within 20 min at 100 degrees C. Plenty of other studies have been done around this topic, I was in a hurry as usually and this was the first to pop up. Also, onions turn black due to oxidation, not from cleaning the air. Unless you consider 'removing oxygen' to be 'cleaning the air' Yea I was going to discuss that particular claim, but figured stick to the OP. The onion turning black is not an indication of it "absorbing" bacteria from the air, or anything like that. HOWEVER it remains unclear to me if the onion is putting out vapors that contain the anti-bacteria agents, that to me would need a targeted study to answer. Edit: didnt read this before posting. But the snopes article that Spider linked to is correct - leaving onions around the house will not keep your air clean of viruses. Also, onions turn black due to oxidation, not from cleaning the air.

Ruth34611 Joined Sat 08/02/08 Posts: 32402	Tue 02/21/12 01:30 PM
So raw onions and garlic would be best taken orally when flu or cold symptoms start? I cook with a lot garlic and I thought that was supposed to help. But maybe heating is not good.

Torgo70 Joined Fri 06/27/08 Posts: 27387	Tue 02/21/12 02:07 PM
Close to an onion.. I had a wart on my toe. A friend told me to cut in half a garlic clove, and bandaid it to the wart. You can feel it burn. Wart gone, never to return. So, I am believing this onion stuff. Vampire wart.

massagetrade Joined Thu 02/22/07 Posts: 8505	Tue 02/21/12 03:00 PM Edited by massagetrade on Tue 02/21/12 03:03 PM
The onion turning black is not an indication of it "absorbing" bacteria from the air, or anything like that. HOWEVER it remains unclear to me if the onion is putting out vapors that contain the anti-bacteria agents, that to me would need a targeted study to answer. With things like this, there is always a question of degree. My house has two bathrooms on two floors. When I spray an airborne bacteriocide in one bathroom, there is a non-zero chance that a few particles of the active ingredient will make their way t other bathroom - but that doesn't mean that spraying one bathroom is an effective means of treating the other. <speculation> I would wager that the onion is releasing an airborne bacteriocide, but I'd also wager that its pretty much useless (edit: as an airborn bateriocide) in real-world terms. I'd give better odds to the vapors stimulating the human to better protect themselves from airborn pathogens. Any small increase in the production of mucous (we all know how onions can make us cry) could reduce our risk of an airborn pathogen making its way to our throat or lungs. </speculation> Edit: Ultimately, though, this is all speculation and I agree that what we need are proper studies. Also, I kept saying bacteria when I meant 'bacteria or viruses or mold'.