Breast cancer is a concern on every woman’s list and we have to realize that when we shave under our arms, get out of the shower and immediately clog our open pours with chemicals it’s going to have an effect sooner or later.

I quit using traditional store brand antiperspirants years ago after the aluminum in the antiperspirants was linked to Alzheimer’s. Since then I’ve been on a quest to find a deodorant (all antiperspirants contain aluminum) that actually works. I’ve tried many many different brands and “flavors” but none have been anything that I would highly recommend.

I tried the Crystal type of natural deodorant and many people have recommended it to me but I never liked it much. Now, Dr. Mercola has reported that it actually contains aluminum as well and that he recommends to discontinue it’s use.

The other day I was reading a post on Fake Plastic Fish about alternative deodorants and someone commented that they used baking soda under their arms put on with a fuzzy powder puff. The gal said it was way better than any of the alternative deodorants that she’d tried. Dr. Mercola also suggested baking soda. He puts a pinch in water and I guess wipes it on. You could also add a drop of tea tree oil or lavendar oil if you wanted a smell. I personally like the idea of putting the baking soda on dry but I’m going to give both a try.

All of that being said I would like to suggest the idea that not everybody has bad body odor. I know that after I had my babies I had terrible body odor. I would stink upon exiting the shower. Something with my hormones was going on and only the strongest antiperspirant would work. However, now, I generally do not have bad body odor ( Friends: if I am misinformed please do not hesitate to set me straight ) After working out I take a body shower or a spit bath (okay, I don’t use spit, but a washcloth and water sounds boring). I don’t usually wear deodorant unless I am speaking or in a situation where I know I will perspire.

Remember, perspiration in the body’s way of getting rid of toxins. Where do those toxins go if we block their exit?

Just have to write a quick update. Last night both of my kids went to bed quite sick, my son in particular was miserably stuffed up. I put some White Flower Balm (has a menthol type of smell that is a natural Chinese medicine that I got from my Naturopath) on my sons chest and put on the humidifier. I left the bowl of onions by both of their beds but I was sure my son would be staying home from school the next day (today). I was amazed when I woke up to find him barely sniffling and feeling great. He went to school and seemed to feel just fine the entire day.

Usually when my son gets a cold he is congested for weeks. He is a redhead and his redheaded doctor tells me that redheads are particularly prone to bronchial issues. This does seem to be the case so I was expecting to be dealing with this for the next week at least. I haven’t done anything different other than he has been taking regular doses of Vitamin D for the past month or so. I do know that Vitamin D supports the immune system, however I still wonder if the onion has had anything to do with the quick recovery.

Oh yeah, I ate some of the honey/onion syrup I made today. It was really good! I think I like the crunchiness of actually eating the onions with it, however the syrup would make for a very good wound cleanser or dressing since it’s so thin and could be kept in the fridge.

I’ll keep you posted on my experiments with the onion!

Well, it didn’t last. Both of my kids have colds. They’ve had onions, both cut and peeled and the opposite (peel on with ends cut) in bowls in their rooms. Apparently, this isn’t the miracle cure I was hoping for, but I haven’t given up hope yet since the onion was touted as keeping the flu away. So, the onions stay. Now, I can try the onion cough syrup and onion poultice if my kids will put up with it.

I, on the other hand am still healthy. I have another MOPS talk on Friday at my old MOPS group in Monroe, WA and I am doing everything I can to stay healthy for that. That reminds me though, I need to blog about the neti pot.

Anyway, I digress. I was at my Naturopath’s office and asked my naturopath about her thoughts on the onion. I told her what I had read and asked her what she thought about the onion. Basically, she concurred with what I’d read and told me that in school (at the world renowned Bastyr) they’d made a concoction in which they put large slices of onion in honey and let it sit for a few days, removed the onion and used the onion-ed honey in tea.  I’d also read about “honey balls” in which one takes any herb that they’d like to get down and mixes it with a spoonful of honey. Yes, just a spoonful of sugar method. I thought I’d give it a try with onion so I finely chopped onion and mixed it with some delicious pure, raw honey I’d gotten from my brother. I’ve got to say it was really good. Not only because the honey itself is delicious, but something about the onion and honey combo had me craving it the next two days. I thought maybe I was simply craving the sugar in the honey but it wasn’t that. My husband, who is rarely a willing guinea pig, did taste, and agree, that there was something about the honey and onion combination that was like able.

I don’t usually sweeten my tea but when I’m sick I find that hot water with fresh lemon juice, and honey is better than anything else. So, I decided to try out the onion and honey in a jar experiment and see if I can get my sick kids to give it a try (I’ll let you know…). I used a small 8 oz. jam jar and put large chunks of peeled onion in raw honey. I covered the jar with a small plate and left it on my counter overnight.  The onion has so much water that the honey is now very much a liquid. I haven’t tasted it yet, but it must be similar to my honey/onion ball.

Honey, although a highly concentrated sweetener, has so many benefits. It is even touted as a way to relieve seasonal allergies. It is best to get raw and unfiltered honey. If you need allergy relief, buy from a bee keeper that keeps his bees within 25 miles of your home. We’ve already learned about some of the benefits we get from the onion, so combine the two and it’s got to make for one great immune booster. So far so good. I’ll let you know if I stay healthy or succumb to the mucous particles constantly being flung in my direction.

It’s funny how subjects often come up in three’s. Not long ago I was reading a book (fiction) that was set during the depression. In this book, when one of the women got sick she “boiled an onion.” It sparked a curiosity in me as I’m always looking for natural remedies that my grandma might have used. I then went to an “Herbal Remedies” workshop put on by a couple of ladies in our community. Onion was one of the ingredients commonly used in the remedies we discussed.

So, when I was reading my most recent issue of MaryJanesFarm Magazine I was pleased to see a short blurb on “Onions, Fact or Folklore” written by fellow blogger, Shery Jespersen. I found the story she told to be so intriguing that I’m going to repeat it here for you.

“When the 1918 flu pandemic killed 50-100 million people between 1918-1920, there was said to be a doctor who visited many farmers to see if he could help them combat the flu. The doctor came upon one household where everyone was very healthy. When the doctor asked what the family was doing that was different, the wife replied that she had placed a dish of unpeeled onions in each room of the home. The doctor asked if he could have one of the onions to observe under the microscope. When he did, he found traces of the flu virus in the onion. It had absorbed the infection, keeping the family healthy.”

The article goes on to tell the story of her hairdresser who heard this story and decided to place onions around her shop during flu season. To her surprise, “none of her staff got sick that year.” Another friend reported similar results and Mary Jane herself claims that her grandmother would have her eat a slice of onion sprinkled with salt when she got sick as a kid.

The Herbal Remedies Workshop I attended was based around the book 10 Essential Herbs by Lalitha Thomas. Onion is amongst one of Ms. Thomas’ top ten. Her claims as to the powers of onion make me want to keep one in my first aid kit, a couple in my purse and quite possibly one stuck to my dashboard.

She tells the story of a group of kids that she had been teaching about the healing uses of plants. One day, she was gone and this group of kids were outside playing and climbing a rocky hill. One of the younger one’s took a pretty bad tumble down the hill and was covered with bumps, bruises and cuts. Using their new found knowledge, the kids took it upon themselves to treat the child themselves. They used onion to clean the wounds and then proceeded to tape onion slices on all of the bruises. The next day when she returned, the child, who still had the onion slices taped all over his body, was feeling just fine. Where there were large bruises she peeled back the onion to reveal a ring of bruise surrounding the part that the onion had covered. And, where the bruises were completely covered by the slice of onion, there showed no signs of trauma.

Ms. Thomas goes on to explain that much research has been done surrounding the onion and that it contains “sulphur compounds” that are known to be a “superb antiseptic.” Along with active ingredients that “help to break up fluid congestion in body tissues, such as bruising and swelling.” East Texas University has conducted research which has “identified a prostaglandin compound in raw onions that is known for lowering high blood pressure in rats.” If there ever was an all-purpose anecdote, I’m starting to think that the onion might at least be in the running!

There are many different ways to use the onion. One can make an onion (or onion/salt) poultice where the onion is chopped up, placed on or in a light cloth and placed on something like a congested chest or behind an infected/plugged ear. Another option is to finely chop or blend an onion, put in a cheesecloth and squeeze out the juice for consumption or as an antiseptic for an open cut or wound. Or, if you’re like me and you just want to keep things as simple, as possible just place a slice of onion on whatever it is that ails you (like a bug bite, bruise, bee sting).

I for one, keep waiting for my kids to get the nasty bug that’s going around so that I can try an onion poultice on a congested chest. So far so good though. After all they are sleeping with an onion by their heads.