Article content
People have eaten onions since time immemorial. We incorporate them into our dishes and enjoy them. Food is tasty and much more interesting because of them than without them. But did you know what effects they have on the body?
Onion
Onion contains mainly B‑group vitamins, vitamin C and a whole range of bioactive enzymes; unfortunately, these substances are significantly degraded by heat treatment. Of the somewhat more stable minerals, onion contains calcium, potassium, sodium, iron and sulfur.
Onion compresses
1) If you have headaches, swelling, earaches or a cold, apply compresses with sliced onion to the affected areas.
2) In case of high fever, place onion compresses on your legs and feet.
3) If you are bleeding from the nose, apply compresses with onion slices to your neck.
4) When bitten by an insect or scratched by an animal, disinfect the wound, then place a slice of onion on it and wrap with a bandage.
5) For surface or subcutaneous skin ulcers, grate an onion, blend it with a little olive oil and then apply it to the painful area for 1 to 2 hours.
Onion juice
6) If you have inflammation of the throat, bronchi or a lung infection, chop an onion and squeeze out its juice. Then mix it with 1 tablespoon of honey and consume it. Do this 2 to 3 times a day until your symptoms improve.
7) If you want to prevent hair loss or promote the growth of hair that has fallen out, massage your scalp for a few minutes with fresh onion juice several times a day. Do this only if you don’t mind the strong onion smell and if your skin is not too sensitive to irritation from onion.
8) When you suffer from a severe and persistent cough, juice an onion and mix its fresh juice with water. Drink this mixture several times a day.
9) Proceed as in point 8 when you want to get rid of intestinal parasites.
10) If you have a skin condition such as eczema, acne or pimples, massage fresh onion juice into the affected skin several times a day.
Boiled onion
11) If you suffer from frequent urination, finely chop one onion, mix it with 200 ml of plain water, simmer briefly, let it cool and finally add 1 tablespoon of honey. Mix everything well and drink it. An alternative recipe is to mix chopped onion with 200 ml of water, 200 ml of wine and a pinch of rosemary and simmer the whole mixture briefly. Drink one tablespoon of this infusion every hour.
12) You can use the same procedure as in the previous point for stomach ulcers. Start gently, however, and test whether it irritates your ulcers.
Baked onion
13) When you have wounds or ulcers on the skin, first wash the affected area with water. Then apply a slice of onion to it that you previously baked in coconut oil (of course after it has cooled, not while hot).
14) Do you have problems with blood clotting associated with a risk of heart attack or stroke? Then it will help if you consume lightly fried onion in olive oil twice a day, for example half an onion in the afternoon and the other half at night before going to bed.
15) For ear infections, apply a compress with warm (not too hot) baked onion to the ears.
16) Applying slices of baked onion also helps in the treatment of various skin basal cell carcinomas and other less aggressive types of skin cancer.
