Advise from Kevin Giani, Renigade Health Show

Anyway, back to the 4 tips...

1. Ask yourself this question...

"What can I do today that is healthier than
I did yesterday?"

The biggest challenge with trying to eat a
healthy diet is that we yo-yo back and forth.

Why?

Because we are trying to reach an ideal way
of eating that our bodies and minds haven't
adjusted to yet.

You know the turtle and the hare story right?

Slow and steady wins the race?

It's the same with eating healthy. Develop
your diet slowly and you'll win the race.

Ask yourself this question every day and you
have the answer to developing your diet slowly,
safely and without yo-yo-ing.

2. Try the Hallelujah Acres approach.

Rev. George Malkmus (and I'm sure others before
him) mentioned how he teaches the raw food diet.

It basically goes like this:

Eat raw for breakfast and lunch, then at dinner
introduce some cooked veggies like greens, rice
quinoa, lentils and potatoes.

This way you eat raw for 2/3 of the day and
get yourself into a great habit.

This is my favorite way to eat, in fact. It starts
your day off with energy so you can sail through
it.

3. Make more blended smoothies and blended soups.

You pretty much could live on blended foods as
long as you make sure you rotate your greens, have
essential fatty acids, and watch your medical
tests. (There are other considerations too, but
these are some important ones!)

Blended soups happen to be a little less known,
but are just as powerful as the smoothie.

Plus they give massive variety.

Blending is a surefire way to get more raw foods
into your diet, because you can not only make
sweet fruit smoothies, but also the savory soups
which will satisfy your taste buds when you don't
want sweet, sweet, sweet all the time.

4. Keep learning and keep focused.

If you keep learning and stay focused on something
you always get better at it.

It's the law of attention.

(Not attraction or intention)

So when you focus on your education about raw
foods, chances are you're going to begin to succeed
more than you ever have before.

Eating healthy isn't a one and done type deal.

You, just like you would with anything you want
to be good at, have to practice and learn more
to become a master.

So ask yourself, when was the last time I read
a book on health or raw foods?

When was the last time you listened to a call?

Is it time to go back to school?

Let us know and if it hasn't been a while, be sure
to take some action on your education.

If you want to have about 140 of the most popular
raw food questions answered, please do check out
Frederic Patenaude's book "The Raw Vegan Coach"

In this book he answers popular questions like:

- Are raw recipes healthy?

- What should we think about certain raw food
gurus who look older than their age?

- Is it better to eat raw foods before cooked
foods?

- How to kick the sugar habit forever

- How to transition to the raw food diet

- What is the best water to drink?

- And more!

Here's where you can read more...

http://www.renegadehealth.com/rawvegancoach

Live Awesome!
Kev

Other great resources:

Go to this guide for answers to basic questions re: living and raw foods life-styles. Excellent FREE downloadable 153-page guide with recipes and full-color photos.
http://www.raw-pleasure.com.au/ebooks/TheSimpleGuideToEatingRaw.pdf
My only concern is that many of the recipes call for cashews. I choose to substitute local English walnuts (activated) or sprouted sunflower seeds for optimal nutrition.

Your questions:

How do I know if I'm deficient in...

Vitamin D and Why is it important?
http://www.naturalnews.com/028353_vitamin_D_sunlight.html
(NaturalNews) There is an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency sweeping across our modern world, and it's an epidemic of such depth and seriousness that it makes the H1N1 swine flu epidemic look like a case of the sniffles by comparison.Vitamin D deficiency is not only alarmingly widespread, it's also a root cause of many other serious diseases such as cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis and heart disease.

A new study published in the March, 2010 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism found that a jaw-dropping 59 percent of the population is vitamin D deficient. In addition, nearly 25 percent of the study subjects were found to have extremely low levels of vitamin D.

Lead author of the study, Dr. Richard Kremer at the McGill University Health Center, said "Abnormal levels of vitamin D are associated with a whole spectrum of diseases, including cancer, osteoporosis, and diabetes, as well as cardiovascular and autoimmune disorders."

This new study also documents a clear link between vitamin D deficiency and stored body fat. This supports a theory I've espoused here on NaturalNews for many years: That sunshine actually promote body fat loss. Vitamin D may be the hormonal mechanism by which this fat loss phenomenon operates.

The research findings on vitamin D, by the way, get even better...
How do I know if I'm deficient in...
The B Vitamins and why are they important?

If you are vegetarian, vegan or have absorption issues, you re probably deficient without supplementation form sea vegetables or sprouts grown in inland sea water. Meat eaters are also prone to Vitamin B deficiencies due to the poor quality fees of most grocery-store-bought meats (even prime cuts). Why are they important?

(NaturalNews) Vitamin B comes in many forms, and all of them are necessary for healthy living. Getting plenty of B vitamins - usually much more than the recommended daily allowance - can improve heart health and symptoms of depression, and can also work...

Check out these articles:

http://www.NaturalNews.com/026357_vitamin_B_vitamins_food.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/vitamin_B12.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/B_vitamins.html

What is HVP?
What is TVP?
Is Raw Milk Safe?
Here are answers I found from Mike Adams:
(NaturalNews) Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP) is one of most common soy-based food "fillers" used to make literally thousands of processed food products. It's found in veggie burgers, gravy mixes, soups and many other grocery products. Last Thursday, one of the largest producers of HVP in the United States, Las Vegas-based Basic Food Flavors Inc., was the subject of an FDA consumer safety warning announcement. Salmonella had been found contaminating the company's HVP production equipment, the FDA said, and a nationwide recall was initiated that now includes products from Trader Joe's, Safeway, McCormick and many other companies.

See the FDA list of recalled products here:
(http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scrip...)

Most Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein isn't purchased directly by consumers; it's used by food production companies as an ingredient in mainstream processed foods. So it shows up in thousands of grocery products -- and most consumers are not aware they're eating this ingredient. In fact, many consumers are, for the first time, asking, "What is HVP?"

Beware of what's in your groceries

I wrote about HVP in my 2004 book, "Grocery Warning," which warned consumers about a dozen potentially hazardous food ingredients. HVP was just one of many ingredients mentioned as a potential source of hidden monosodium glutamate (MSG).

MSG, of course, is a potentially dangerous neurotoxin used to flavor countless processed food products. It's used in soups, salad dressings, processed meats, gravy mixes, flavored snack chips and virtually every popular brand ofbeef jerky. It is considered an "excitotoxin" by Dr. Russell Blaylock, a neurosurgeon who has written extensively about MSG and its damaging effects on human neurology.

According to Blaylock, MSG can promote eating addictions, obesity, brain cancer, endocrine system disorders, infertility and many serious neurological disorders. That's why it's so disturbing that MSG is hidden in so many natural-sounding ingredients.

In my Grocery Warning book, I warned readers to avoid all ingredients that contain the words "hydrolyzed" or "autolyzed." In addition, Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) can also be a source of hidden MSG.

But the most common source of hidden MSG is yeast extract -- a sneaky little ingredient found in huge numbers of so-called "natural" foods.

The dirty little secret of the "natural" foods industry

HVP, TVP and yeast extract are very common ingredients in the natural / vegetarian food industry. Most of the popular veggie burgers, for example, contain HVP, TVP or yeast extract. And that makes them a suspected source of hidden MSG.

Even the big snack food companies get in on this act: A bag of "Natural Doritos" is made with yeast extract, too. (http://www.naturalnews.com/019355.html)

Also see MSGExposed.com: http://www.msgexposed.com/doritos-e...

As far as veggie burger companies go, I'm going to say this bluntly and boldly: In my opinion, many of the larger corporate foods companies are selling little more than chemical additives and unhealthy fillers while calling them "vegetarian" foods. This is why I personally avoid virtually processed veggie burgers and other vegetarian "meat" alternatives. There are a few exceptions to this -- just read the ingredients labels to see who's using HVP, TVP or yeast extract.

The twisted minds at the FDA...

What's really interesting about this HVP recall is that the FDA only considers HVP dangerous when it's possibly contaminated with salmonella. When HVP is sterile, on the other hand, the FDA considers it "safe."

The FDA is so ignorant about the safety of food additive chemicals that it actually believes aspartame and MSG are safe for human consumption. It's bizarre: While tens of millions of Americans are poisoning their brains with diet sodas, the FDA goes crazy over a virtually miniscule risk of salmonella contamination in TVP -- an ingredient that's usually cooked anyway (which destroys the salmonella).

Why isn't the FDA worried about MSG, aspartame, sodium nitrite (causes cancer) or yeast extract? The FDA's position on food safety boils down to this:

The FDA's philosophy of food safety:

#1) Dead foods are safer than living foods, so KILL IT!

#2) Chemicals are safe, but bacteria are dangerous.

This philosophy explains how the FDA ends up trying to outlaw raw milk while allowing MSG and aspartame on the GRAS list (Generally Recognized As Safe).

Raw milk is dangerous, they say. Why? Because there might be something living in there. You know, probiotics and that kind of thing. Scary! So the FDA wants everything as dead as possible. (Including you, most likely.)

In fact, the FDA describes instant, ready-to-eat food mixes as substances that have not gone through a "validated kill process."

Once the foods are dead, they're presumed safe even if they're loaded with neurotoxic chemicals and cancer-causing substances. So a hot dog made with sodium nitrite (a cancer-causing chemical found in most hot dogs) is considered perfectly safe as long as the hot dog is dead!

But raw almonds are considered a threat to public health and must now all be chemically fumigated or irradiated in the USA. (http://www.naturalnews.com/022035.html)

Are you getting the picture yet? HVP, TVP, MSG, aspartame, sodium nitrite and other chemical additives are all A-okay with the FDA. They're only scrutinized when they become contaminated with bacteria. It's the bacteria that freaks out the FDA, not the chemicals!

The lesson to the food companies in all this is quite simple: You can stuff practically any hazardous, cancer-causing, brain-damaging chemical you want into processed food products as long as the whole mixture is cooked until its dead. At that point, you may sell it for human consumption, even if it causes cancer.

The FDA's outright failure on food safety

Have you ever seen the FDA take urgent action to ban an unsafe food ingredient used by the big food corporations?

It almost never happens. And the really bizarre part is that many of today's most dangerous food additives were never subjected to safety testing by the FDA or any other agency -- they were simply grandfathered in and labeled safe (GRAS) solely because they had been historically used by the food companies for such a long period of time.

This is how poisons like MSG got into the food supply. Aspartame, of course, is a whole different story of corruption and collusion. But the truth is, there remain hundreds of dangerous chemicals used in food products that are never scrutinized by the FDA. HVP just barely scratches the surface of this story.

Action items: What you can do right now to protect yourself

#1) READ all food ingredients labels.

#2) AVOID foods made with any of the following ingredients:
• Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein
• Textured Vegetable Protein
• Yeast Extract
• Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
• Aspartame
• Sodium nitrite

#3) PROTECT your nervous system with superfoods and nutritional supplements that support healthy brain function: Omega-3 oils, antioxidants, trace minerals and of course astaxanthin (http://www.naturalnews.com/026325_a...).

#4) SHARE this story with family and friends who need to know the truth about what's really in the foods they buy. Most consumers have no idea what's found in the foods they're eating. Most people don't read food labels, and as a result they end up eating all kinds of chemical ingredients that would shock them if they learned the truth.

#5) LEARN more by reading stories here on NaturalNews about common chemical food additives:

MSG:
http://www.naturalnews.com/MSG.html

Yeast Extract:
http://www.naturalnews.com/yeast_ex...

Aspartame:
http://www.naturalnews.com/aspartam...

Sodium Nitrite:
http://www.naturalnews.com/sodium_n...

Hydrogenated oils:
http://www.naturalnews.com/hydrogen...

Sources for this story include:
Associated Press:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap...

CNN:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/...

FDA list of recalled products:
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scrip...

Share1104

Buzz up!17 votes

About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health researcher and author with a mission to teach personal and planetary health to the public He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, impacting the lives of millions of readers around the world who are experiencing phenomenal health benefits from reading his articles. Adams is a trusted, independent journalist who receives no money or promotional fees whatsoever to write about other companies' products. In 2007, Adams launched EcoLEDs, a maker of super bright LED light bulbs that are 1000% more energy efficient than incandescent lights. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also the founder of a well known HTML email software company whose 'Email Marketing Director' software currently runs the NaturalNews subscription database. Adams also serves as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a non-profit consumer protection group, and practices nature photography, Capoeira, Pilates and organic gardening. Known by his callsign, the 'Health Ranger,' Adams posts his missions statements, health statistics and health photos at www.HealthRanger.org

How can all that coconut oil be healthy?

Here is an excerpt from Jim Fly's newsletter that answers many questions about coconuts:

Our emphasis this week is on coconut products, which have proliferated in recent years as more and more research validates the healthfulness and unique properties of this tropical tree fruit.

I recall going to a seminar in Las Vegas several years ago given by Dr. Bruce Fife, N.D., the individual who has written the most about the often-misaligned coconut--(it's high in saturated fat, for example).

At that time, coconut oil and various other products were just being introduced to the health food industry. Previous to this, coconut, due to its high content of saturated fat, was being partially blamed for the high rate of heart disease. Remember the movie popcorn scare? But, as Dr. Fife pointed out it was precisely partially or fully hydrogentated coconut oil that was the real culprit, just as other healthy oils become dangerous when subjected to the hydrogenation process, which produces transfats, or plastic fats, that oxidize LDL cholesterol and set the stage for hardening of the arteries...

South Sea Islanders and other people living in the tropics, when eating a traditional diet that relies heavily on coconuts, have one of the lowest rates of heart disease in the world. And, here's why, according to Dr. Fife:

Coconut's saturated fat is a unique type of fat composed of Medium Chain Triglycerides, which the body mainly burns as fuel instead of storing as fat! Coconut also contains lauric acid which the human body turns into monolaurin, an antiviral, antifungal and antibacterial substance. Another MCT in coconut is capric acid, which converts into monocaprin, another antiviral. So, the theory goes, Coconut can possibly function as a metabolizer and immune system booster. At any rate, it is not the skull-and-crossbones fat of culinary paranoia. Oh, and by the way, pure coconut and coconut oil is one of the most hypoallergenic foods there is--most people with food allergies do not react negatively to coconut.

To subscribe to Jim Fly's newsletter, send an e-mail request to: azfreshair@earthlink.net

What's the deal with Vanila Extract?
Here's some info. Maybe too much? Short answer: A chemical compound derived from ethanol, sugar and wood pulp can be marketed as "pure vanilla extract." Yes, even the "organic" is not derived from vanilla. Not buying it any more. The sad thing is, it tasted great, and so for a long time we didn't question it. But it's not something you would want to feed your kids or your worst enemy. So, I opt for cured whole beans. Here's the explanation Lucinda found o-line:

Food Counterfeiting: Vanilla Case Study

One of the most common flavors used today is the flavor of vanilla. Look through the ingredients in your kitchen and read the label on your favorite ice cream, cookies, cakes, etc.; you will often find references to vanilla extract orartificial vanilla flavor (or imitation vanilla extract). Are these two terms synonymous? If not, how are the two materials they represent different?

We will show the differences in the definitions between vanilla extract and artificial vanilla flavor, and ask you to design and conduct a Virtual Mass Spectrometry Laboratory experiment to determine if a bottle of vanilla extract purchased from the local grocery store is authentic or not.

Vanillin is the trivial name of the chief flavoring compound in natural vanilla extract. It is also the major or exclusive chemical compound in artificial vanilla flavoring. Inspection of the Kekule structure of vanillin reveals its rather simple architecture. Given that the major flavoring compound in both vanilla extract and artificial vanilla flavor is vanillin, what is the difference between the two?

Producing Vanilla Extract

Vanilla extract is the solution obtained when one dissolves the extracts of 100g of vanilla beans in 1 liter of 45%, by volume, ethanol. {Sugar can be, and often is, added.}

Vanilla beans are harvested from the vanilla orchid (Vanilla planifolia), a tropical plan primarily cultivated in Mexico, Indonesia, and the Malagasy Republic. The bean, when harvested, contains very little vanillin (instead, the vanillin exists as a glucoside); however upon fermenting, the beans generate vanillin which often appears as white crystals on the surface of the bean. The vanillin is readily extracted from the fermented beans with aqueous-ethanol solutions.

Vanilla Pods

Vanilla Extract

As there are hundreds of additional organic compounds present in the beans, and soluble (to different extents) in aq-EtOH, vanilla extract contains principally vanillin but also several hundred additional components in trace amounts. (It is these additional complex mixtures that subtly distinguishes the flavor of vanilla extract from artificial vanilla flavor.)

In 1986 vanilla beans sold for $30-$38 per pound. To be most precise, a vanilla extract, as defined by a standard of the Food and Drug Administration, "is the solution, containing not less than 35% alcohol, of the sapid and odorous principles extracted from one or more units of vanilla consitutent. One unit of vanilla consituent is 13.35 oz of vanilla beans containing not more than 25% moisture in 1 gal of finished product. No addition of artificial vanillin is permitted in products designed as vanilla extract". (Martin, 1977)

Developing Imitation Extract

Imitation vanilla extract refers to an alcoholic solution containing synthetically derived vanillin. Thus the major flavoring agent in vanilla extract and imitation vanilla extract is identical; the differences are (1) synthetic vanillin is considerably cheaper than extracted vanillin, and (2) vanilla extract contains hundreds of trace components.

The cheapness of synthetic vanillin is due in part to the discovery, in the 1950s, that a waste product of the wood pulp industry, lignin, could be readily oxidized to vanillin. The source of abundant vanillin ensures this popular flavoring agent is widely available for food uses.

The source of abundant synthetic vanillin also presented food counterfeiters with a method of making a great deal of money fraudulently--simply by marketing the cheap synthetic vanillin as authentic vanilla extract. (This can take several forms ranging from complete substitution of the authentic material to a dilution of the authentic material by adding synthetic vanillin.)

The Problem

How is a regulatory agency such as the FDA to determine if the vanilla extract that you pay a substantial price for in the local grocery store is in fact authentic? Or, stated in another way, if you pay the premium price for the authentic vanilla extract, you don't want to receive a solution of only vanillin (Visit Spice Notes Vol. 1 for related information).

The solution in current practice is a direct reflection of the biosynthetic pathways leading to vanillin and lignin--these are substantially different. One consequence is that there are measurable differences in how efficiently the pathways allow a molecule containing a carbon-13 isotope to enter the pathway. The vanillin produced from the oxidation of lignin and the vanillin produced by the vanilla bean have a measurable difference in the C-12 to C-13 in their makeup (vanillin from the vanilla plant is slightly enriched in ¹³C relative to vanillin from wood pulp lignin). Thus, a mass spectrometry-based approach, Stable Isotope Ratio analysis (SIRA) has been developed that allow the two sources of vanillin to be distinguished.

The Future

The great use of vanillin ("the world's most important flavoring agent") ensures active work continues on all aspects of the molecule, including genetic engineering (see for instance:http://www.ifrn.bbsrc.ac.uk/BUSCOM/FOOD_INFO/vanillin.html.)

References:

"Determining the Authenticity of Vanilla Extracts", G.E. Martin, M.W. Ehtridge, and F.E. Kaiser, J. Food Science, 1977, 42, 1580-1586.

"Carbon Isotopes in Vanillin and the Detection of Falsified "Natural" Vanillin", D.A. Krueger and H.W. Krueger, J. Agric. Food Chem., 1983, 31, 1265-1268.

"Detection of Fraudulent Vanillin Labeled with ¹³C in the Carbonyl Carbon", D.A. Krueger and H.W. Krueger, J. Agric. Food Chem., 1985, 33, 323-325.

"Vanilla", C.H. Breedlove, ChemMatters, 1988, April, 8-.

"The Determination of Vanillin in Vanilla Extract", E.W. Ainscough and A.M. Brodie, J. Chem. Ed., 1990, 67, 1069-1071.

"Determination of the Authenticity of Vanilla Extracts by Stable Isotope Ratio Analysis and Component Analysis by HPLC", J. Agric. Food Chem., 1994, 42, 1722-1727.

"Vanillin: Synthetic Flavoring from Spent Sulfite Liquor", M.B. Hocking, J. Chem. Ed.,1997, 74, 1055-1059.

What to keep on-hand:
For starters:

A healthy kitchen promotes variety, especially when it comes to vegetables. For optimum health, keep your pantry and fridge stocked with organic produce that covers the whole spectrum of colors, including the following:
Onions: This classic, pungent vegetable adds flavor to any meal. Allicin, a phytonutrient found in most varieties of onions, may be responsible for its health benefits, including lowering cholesterol and blood pressure.

Garlic: This fragrant bulb contains many of the same phytonutrients as onions, as well as antibiotic and antiviral compounds. It may help boost the immune system, prevent colds, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and fight fungal or yeast infections.

Spinach: This dark leafy green (and others like it, such as kale and collards) contains lutein and zeaxanthin, antioxidant carotenoids that may help prevent cataracts and macular degeneration. Spinach is also a source of calcium and folate, a B vitamin that helps to prevent birth defects. Buy organic spinach, since pesticides are commonly used on conventionally grown varieties.

Cabbage: This low-cost yet highly nutritious cruciferous vegetable contains nutrients called indoles, which may protect against both breast and prostate cancer. It also provides significant amounts of fiber and vitamin C.

Sweet potatoes: Rich in beta carotene, these vegetables may help boost the immune system, deliver vitamin C and folate (which may reduce the risk of heart disease and prevent certain birth defects), and are low on the glycemic index and glycemic load charts.

Check back. I'll add more ideas later.

The Onion Question:

Here's my thoughts on the onion the onion attracting a virus question:

I don't know. I've seen this before and wondered about it. I've actually placed an onion half beside the bed when I had a mild flu and had a wonderful nights sleep, no nausea and felt terrific in the morning. But I was also giving myself ironic foot baths and drinking carrot top tea. So, who knows what the magic ticket is. I know it can't hurt you to have an onion by your bed.

Athropormorphising helps me understand and explain how it is possible that bacteria and viruses are attracted to cut onions. A harvested onion stays alive, for as long it can, out of soil, because it is "expecting" to be replanted soon. (After all, an animal dug it. And an honest onion will never know where an animal is going to leave it laying around.)You will find wild onions in flood planes where they lay exposed for long periods of time and then, hopeful, are eventually covered up by river silt, the onion's favorite soil.

A living onion is acidic and not attractive to most micro organisms that would break it down and make it decay. I know that cutting the onion does interrupt its life-force. Being an onion, with living cells even after cut, it will want to assist (not hinder) propagation of its species by aiding the environment in which it lives(soil), by decaying into useful material as soon as possible. Although being acidic helps preserve an onion until it can be replanted, being too acidic is not good for it's niehbors. It will mess up the ph of the soil. (Assuming as onions probably do, it is in an onion patch, which is all an onion, so far as we can determine, is accustomed to.) One way to become less gassey and more sugary is to be be eaten and digested by organisms that produce yeasts and sugars. So, if you, as an onion could attract those organisms, you would do less damage to the soil, compost faster and allow your fellow onions to enjoy the sugars and minerals you have now returned to the environment.

Here is the sceptic in me: Doesn't EVERYTHING attract Bacteria while it is in a process of decay? Can this be used as a "treatment" for illness? Or, is there bacteria in the onion because bacteria everywhere already and it concentrates in decay of any type? also, the expert "chemist" in this story is a food-science developer that makes fake mayonaise for McDonalds? Can we get a second opinion, please?

I'd like to see some more research on it. Has there been a study where they test a human with a detectable virus in their blood and then "pouf" it's gone and in the onion by the next day? Where is the study published? Who conducted the study? Why? What were they trying to learn when they discovered this?

Regarding the idea that commercial mayonnaise is "safe." Perhaps it's safe from bacterial infection because its poison to begin with. You could not pay me to eat commercial mayonaise.

Does anyone else have information on this subject they would like to share?

-Val

On Feb 16, 2010, at 9:52 AM, TM wrote:

What r your thoughts

Subject: FW: Onions... who would of thought?
I thought this was pretty interesting and simpletoo. Might just give it a try!

THE ONION
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 AZ. 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. If this helps you and your loved ones from getting sick, all the better. If you do get the flu, it just might be a mild case..Whatever, what have you to lose? Just a few bucks on
onions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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: Weldon,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.

Another 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.

This is the other note.

LEFT OVER ONIONS ARE POISONOUS

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.Now with this info, I have changed my mind....will buy smaller onions in the future.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.

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. 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!)

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.

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 produce millions of
pounds of mayonnaise every year.'

Also, dogs should never eat onions. Their stomachs cannot metabolize onions. 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.

Please pass it on to all you love and care.