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 in NZ. 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... ( And no, she is not in the onion business.)
The moral of the story is, buy some onions and place them in bowls around your home. If you work at a desk, place one or two in your office or under your desk or even on top somewhere. Try it and see what happens. We did it last year and we never got the flu.
Whatever, what have you to lose? Just a few bucks on onions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
不管結果如何， 你又會有什麼損失呢？ 除了幾顆洋蔥之外！
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 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 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.
A nother 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.
那篇文章還談到放在屋子裡的洋蔥和大蒜在多年前的黑死病中救了很多人的命。
But here is the other important side to remember.
但有另一個非常重要因素是我們需要注的。
LEFT OVER ONIONS ARE POISONOUS
餘下來的洋蔥是有毒的
I have used an onion which has been left in the fridge, and sometimes I don't use a whole one at one time, so save the other half for later.
我曾經使用雪櫃中餘下來的洋蔥， 有時我不會使用整個洋蔥， 餘下來的會留為下次使用。
Now with this info, I have changed my mind.....will buy smaller onions in the future.
如今有了這些資訊， 我會改變策略. . . . . .日後買些較細小的洋蔥。
I had the wonderful privilege of touring Mullins Food Products, Makers of mayonnaise. Mullins is huge, and is owned by 11 brothers and sisters in the Mullins family. My friend, Jeanne, is the CEO.
Questions about food poisoning came up, and I wanted to share what I learned from a chemist.
食物中毒時有所聞， 所以和各位分享一些從藥劑師所學到的知識。
The guy who gave us our tour is named Ed. He's one of the brothers. Ed is a chemistry expert and is involved in developing most of the sauce formula.. He's even developed 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. 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 quaint essential 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.
Ed 說， 當收到食物中毒的報告後， 調查員首先會詢問'中毒者'最後一次吃洋蔥是什麼時間和那些洋蔥是從那裡來的（ 在馬鈴薯沙拉中？ ） Ed 說問題並非出自處於室外的沙拉油變壞所引致（ 除非是家中自製的）。可能是洋蔥所為， 如果不是洋蔥， 那就是馬鈴薯。
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!)
洋蔥在切開一點點時經已被污染， 可能對您有害（ 需要加倍注意帶往棒球場放在熱狗包內的洋蔥！ ）
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.
Ed 說如果將餘下來的洋蔥完全烹熟可能還可以， 但如果將餘下來的洋蔥切開放在三明治中， 你便自尋煩惱。洋蔥和馬鈴薯沙拉中浸濕了的馬鈴薯， 都非常吸引
細菌， 細菌的繁殖速度較快， 即使市場上買來的任何沙拉油都會開始變壞。
So, how's that for news? 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 coming from a chemist and a company that produces millions of pounds of mayonnaise every year.'
Also, dogs should never eat onions. Their stomachs cannot metabolize onions .....
同時， 切勿給狗隻吃洋蔥。它們的胃部不能消化洋蔥. . . . . .
Please remember it is dangerous to cut onions 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.