Plant Medicine Summary: Onions

Of course we love using onions for cooking... but did you know you can use raw onion juice for earaches? They are a magical plant that help SO many ailments. 

Brief History

There are over 500 varieties of onions. They originated in Iran and West Pakistan and most researchers agree that onions have been cultivated for 5000 or more years. The bible mentions the Israelites ate them and they were brought aboard the Mayflower with the Pilgrims. During World War II the Russian soldiers were so taken with onions ability to prevent infection, that they applied onions to battle wounds as an antiseptic.   .http://www.herballegacy.com/Wilson_History.html

How Do I Use Them?

Helps aid congestion, earaches, compresses for skin problems such as acne, boils and arthritis. Helps heal pulled or torn muscles. Aids in lowering blood pressure, cholesterol and helps cardiovascular. It is a great antiviral and supports the body in fighting bronchitis, asthma, colds, flu’s and sinus problems. It open the lungs and helps breathing, Helpful with allergies and yeast infection.

With all the things that onion supports – it is a great food to add to your food preparation.

Raw

• Raw onions can be used to make syrups and poultices. Syrup for coughing and sore throats. Simply place a raw onion in a pan on low and pour 1/8-1/4 cup honey on it. Let simmer for 45 minutes covered. This pulls out the onion juice and makes a syrup. We have used this for small children often! We have also used onion syrup for babies, but instead of using honey, we have used sugar as the sweetener. 
• Put onion juice directly on a burn.
• Put raw onion juice in your ear for an earache. Simply blend up an onion (do not add water, just the plain onion), then strain the juice. 

Poultice

• Chop onion and mix with honey to make a thick paste. You can also do it without honey. Put mixture on sprain or sore muscle. Wrap with ace bandage, especially at bedtime. Put a lose sock on to help hold in place.
• Make a poultice and put directly on a burn.

Cooked

• This is a star of herbs – it can be used in most foods – soups, main dishes etc. It is something that can really boost your nutrition as you use it on a daily basis.

My Experience with it

• (Paula) "Our daughter was in the 5th grade and participating in 5th grade track day at the end of the school year. She twisted her ankle at practice. I had to pick her up because she couldn’t walk. She was in tears because she loved doing this and was good at the races. By the time we got home, it was beginning to swell and bruise.   We chopped up an onion, mixed it with honey and put it on her ankle and wrapped it with an ace bandage. We changed it about every 3 hours. Then she slept on it that night. When she woke up the next day she could walk, the swelling was reduced and the bruising was down. She went to school and competed in the race and won! I am not suggesting that it would happen this fast for everyone because injuries are in different levels. But for her it was a wonderful blessing."
• When someone feels like they are getting sick, we cut an onion and put it in the room where they are sleeping. It absorbs the gunk in the air.
• (Andrea) "My husband has had earaches for years and used all kinds of things. When he married me he found out about using onion juice and it has helped more than anything else he has used. As soon as he feels like an earache is coming on, we put onion juice in his ear a couple of times and 90% of the time it is cleared up by the next day!"
• If the ear is really hurting. Slice an onion and warm it in the microwave. Ask the person to lay ear up that is hurting. Put the onion right on the ear. The warm and the onion s oils released by the steam give really fast relief.
• A friend had a boil near her eye. Swelling the side of her face and eye socket. She used an onion poultice and it helped the boil draw and swelling go down.

 
 Properties of Onion

• Anti-bacterial – Helps eliminate bacteria
• Anti-fungal – Inhibit fungus
• Anti-parasite - Supports body in getting rid of parasites
• Antirheumatic – Aids treatment of rheumatism issues
• Antispasmodic – Calms Muscles
• Diaphoretic – Induces Perspiration
• Emmenagogue – Stimulates menstrual flow
• Expectorant – Expels Mucous
• Galactagogue – Stimulate lactation
• Vulnary - Useful in healing wounds

This list is from http://www.anniesremedy.com/

Part of Plant Used:
       Bulb
      Top In Cooking

Recipe
(Paula) "Our darling grandson was 6 weeks old and was coughing so hard with a bug that he was throwing up. He was too little for cough syrup. We cut an onion up and put it in a small pan with ½ cup of sugar, cooked it for 30 minutes on very low heat. The onion liquefied and the sugar melted into the onion liquid. We strained it and gave him about ¼ of a tsp. His cough settled right down. We gave it to him every time the coughing spasms would start. After a few hours his coughing was only to cough stuff up. It was amazing. When we made this we were tempted to add water – the onion was just in with the sugar and we were afraid it would burn. We put it on medium low and it was amazing how fast the onion turned to liquid. It doesn’t need any water."

Where to get them:
Onions can be bought at the supermarket or farmers market. You can buy in bulk because they store well. You can also dry them. They are easy to grow and we highly recommend to grow your own!

NMM Products With Onion

Fire Cider - Tonic for getting rid of toxins throughout the body. Age old recipe that is very potent but very effective!