Unusual Uses for Onions

My family on my mother’s side tend to live a long time. My great grandfather was asked why that was, and he attributed it to eating green onions on a daily basis. Whether or not that’s true, onions have a lot of uses.

Acne:

Crush raw slices and mix with water, apply to the affected area. It may help for several reasons. The enzymes in it may act as a toner while other ingredients reduce swelling.

Bruises:

There are a couple of ways to prepare an onion to help soothe the pain and inflammation of bruises. The first is to just slice it and apply the it raw to the bruise. The second is a little more ambitious, but could be equally effective. Dice half an onion and mix with salt. Get a cloth that is long enough and wide enough to cover the bruise, put the onion mix on the bruise and tie it on with the cloth. Leave overnight and the bruise should be much better in the morning.

Burns:

To be honest, I can’t imagine putting it raw on a burn, but it could work. There is an anti-inflammatory and pain relieving quality to onions.

Insect Repellent:

This could work two ways. The first way is to actually eat a lot of onions. If you like them in your cooking, that shouldn’t be much of a problem. The onions will alter the way your sweat smells and it is a turn off for bugs. The second is to rub the juice of a raw onion all over your body. Either way they may repel something else…other people.

Splinter Removal:

I have a hole in my leg from a childhood tangle with a cactus garden. Mom would think she got it all out and it would swell up and she’d have to go at it with a sewing needle again. I was four, and I remember it vividly. Imagine how I feel to know that I don’t have to use the dreaded sewing needle again!

Tape a piece of raw onion over the splinter. You can use a band-aid, tape or any other method to keep it stuck to the site. Wait an hour and check. Chances are pretty good you’ll find the splinter no longer in you but now in the raw veggie. If it hasn’t quite finished working, you can repeat with a fresh piece.

The Author:

Mary Bodel has been a master herbalist since 2004 although my training began long before I reached that level. I believe that health encompasses more than taking care of our bodies. It involves everything from what we eat to what we read. It involves our spirit as well as our body.

Photo. Matthias Bockel