fight infections with honey and onion

Onion and honey: a natural remedy for bacterial infection!

Combining onion and honey we get a natural remedy for bacterial infections. Have you heard this sentence before? Probably not, because science has merely started to study our old folk remedies. They now rediscover the way we should combine food to get the maximum health benefits.

I have recently read a page on how an incredible marathoner, with the healthiest lifestyle possible, got diabetes. That type of diabetes that only gets worse, no matter what pills, shots or food someone can take. A perfectly healthy and happy man in his 40s, with a happy family and 2 little girls. It looks like a god is mocking from up there.
The story goes that this man, after trying all possible medications, was only expecting to die, before he found a solution. The solution was offered by vegetables.
But, as I was saying, the man had a healthy life already, eating plenty of vegetables! What he finally discovered, was the way these vegetables should be combined for the bestnatural remedy for bacterial infection results.

A miraculous recovery followed, and, of course, the doctor who elaborated the combination was banned to spreading the information. Nothing surprising in that!

But the main idea remains. Our cure is in our food. And it is the science of eating it that can save us.

lei the food be your medicine

If we are healthy, then we don’t worry too much. And I think it is the right approach. Our first duty here on Earth is to enjoy life. With all its pleasures.

But we are currently living in a food paranoia. Almost. 🙂  I see people dividing into extremely uncaring people who eat a lot, no matter how healthy it is or not. And extremely obsessed people who spend a lot of money on only organic, sophisticated, and rare foods. And middle-class people tend to disappear. And that’s bad!

In my opinion, if we are healthy, we should only eat balanced. If we are sick, we should pay attention to our diet. If we are seriously ill, then we should revise our entire life, lifestyle, actions, thoughts, and character. Not only our diet.

The good news is that science has started to research ways to combine our foods to get the most benefits. Here is an interesting combination recently studied:

HONEY AND ONION

The study was published by Life Science Journal in 2012, entitled “Antimicrobial Activity of Onion Juice (Allium cepa), Honey, and Onion-Honey Mixture on Some Sensitive and Multi-Resistant Microorganisms”.

It was done by Saad B. AL Masaudi and Mona O. AlBureikan, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

They studied the effects of onion alone, honey alone, and a mixture of onion and honey against 8 microbial species:

  • Streptococcus pyogenes,eat honey and onion to fight infection
  • MSSA (Methicillin Sensitive Staphylococcus aureus),
  • MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus),
  • VSE (Vancomycin Sensitive Enterococci)
  • VRE (Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci)
  • Escherichia coli,
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa,
  • Candida albicans.
    The study is available to public; read here.

The conclusion? While each of them has incredible health benefits, by combining these two, we get the best results.

In the study they used:
Honey source and type: Black Forest honey (Langaneza honey), from Germany.
Onion source and type: Egyptian red onion (Allium cepa). Fresh Allium cepa bulbs were rinsed thoroughly in distilled water and air dried; 200 grams were then blended. The resulting paste was allowed to stand for 24 hours. The juice was then filtrated and squeezed out. It was stored below 4°C.

Here are some samples of the ingredients used, Forest Honey Langenese and Red Onion, available on Amazon.

So, what is known about onion and honey alone?

Onion is one of the oldest cultivated vegetables in benefits of onionhistory, with antibacterial and antifungal properties. Onion has an antimicrobial effect against tested microbes, because it is a rich source of flavonoids, polyphenols, organic sulfur, saponins and many other secondary metabolites, which are mainly responsible for its medicinal activities.

Honey, has also antimicrobial effect against tested microbes because it is known to contain phenol, fatty acids, lipids, amylases, ascorbic acid, peroxidases and fructose, has a high osmotic potential and a low pH.

Both of them have excellent nutritional values, and their intake brings additional enhancer of immunity that aid in the treatment of bacterial infections.
These nutritional elements (either in onion or in honey) can act alone or synergistically and may contribute significantly to the antibacterial activity of the mixture, resulting in higher growth reduction, and enhancing the microorganisms killing activity.

Honey in combination with onion may prolong or improve the shelf life of each other.

What was the result of the study?

Onion juice alone: at concentrations of 100%, 50%, 20% and 10% has a very strong effect on the growth of all tested species of microbes compared with the control, and Staphylococcus aureus was the most sensitive microbe.

Honey alone, at 100%, 50%, 20% and 10% concentrations, has a very strong effect on the growth of all species of microbes, but significantly less than the effect of onion juice.

The onion-honey mixture 1:1, with different concentrations, demonstrated a very noticeable effect on all species of examined microbes. Results also showed that the honey-onion mixture was significantly more effective and had stronger effect on microorganisms, compared with onion or honey alone.

Side-effects

In large amounts, some side effects are possible. For most people, taking large amounts of onion by mouth is considered possibly safe. Nutritionists say that taking up to a maximum of 35 mg of the onion ingredient “diphenylamine” per day for several months seems to be safe.

Yet, people with diabetes (it might lower blood sugar), bleeding disorders (onion might slow blood clotting), pregnant or breast-feeding women, as well as people undergoing surgery, should not take large amounts of onion. Larger than usual food amounts.

Interaction with drugs

If you have any of the above conditions, do not take large amounts of onion with your medication, as it may interfere with it.
In addition, if you are taking lithium, taking onion might decrease how well the body gets rid of lithium, as onion has a diuretic effect. This could increase how much lithium is in the body and result in serious side effects. Talk with your healthcare provider before using this product if you are taking lithium. The dose might need to be changed.

Allergy: If you know that you are allergic to onion, taking it with aspirin may increase the symptoms (as reported by one patient.)

Conclusion?

The combination of two or more antibacterial agents is more effective than the agents alone. The scientists’ team proved that the previous studies of other scientists were right: combination works better than agents alone. In addition, they proved that the antibacterial activity of the mixture onion honey, 1:1 ratio, has higher values than it would have had with separate elements.

  1. The combination of honey plus some natural additives has superior results in its antibacterial, antifungal, and wound-healing promotion properties compared to pure bee honey and some other topical wound agents alone (showed by Osman et al. in 2003);
  2. A combination of honey and bovine milk had a stronger antimicrobial effect than honey alone or bovine milk alone. (as demonstrated by Al-Jabri et al. in 2005);
  3. Honey mixed with an antibiotic has the best killing effect within half an hour of exposure to bacteria, compared to either an antibiotic or honey used alone. A combination of honey and gentamicin had a stronger antimicrobial effect than honey alone or gentamicin alone. (as demonstrated by Al-Jabri et al. in 2005); Synergy is also known to exist between penicillin and streptomycin and between sulphamethoxazole and trimethoprim.
  4. Honey and Temozolomide (TMZ), which is a common oral chemotherapy drug used to treat certain types of brain tumors, proved to have stronger cytotoxic activity. (read more here: Take your medicine with honey. It will enhance its power!)
  5. A combination of medicinal plants like G. kola and V. amygdalina extracts suspended in honey inhibits the growth of some microbe’s showing a stronger effect than that observed by honey alone or medicinal plants alone.  (as previously shown by Mboto et al., in 2009)
  6. Other studies have also demonstrated the powerful effects of some other combinations of honey and a natural agent, like with cinnamon, coffee, black radish, seabuckthorn, black seeds or lemon.

 

natural supplement for brain cancer

Related posts:

Take your medicine with honey. It will enhance its power!

• Is Manuka Honey safe to eat?

• I want to buy MANUKA honey. What is UMF 16+, MGO 400+, Active?
• Sidr honey benefits for health
• Tualang honey benefits for health

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References:
Lifesciencesite.com;

Webmed.com

Laura Bujor

Laura Bujor is the author and founder of HealthyWithHoney.com. She built this website as a personal journey to discover the power of honey and share it with the world. She learned directly from beekeepers and took a course in apitherapy. From a hobby, honey and apitherapy turned into a professional career. You can find her on LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest and X.

View all posts by Laura Bujor →

33 thoughts on “Onion and honey: a natural remedy for bacterial infection!

  1. Can I blend ginger and onions together to make a juice with honey and drink for penis enlargement?

    1. Raheem, I have to tell you that I don’t have the slightest idea about this. It’s an intriguing subject and I will surely write back if I find out something.

    2. In ayurveda honey is known as yoga vahini. I think it is same as Ghee. I was reading about satvik food and one of the article said honey and milk combination had satva 70% , Rajas 20% and Tamas 10%. I wanted to increase Rajas and onion had 50 Rajas. So I was thinking is it good to mix all. I can’t just mix all as some food combination is prohibited in ayurveda which saves from I’ll effect. That’s how I saw your article.

      1. Sk, are you saying that the combination: honey, milk, onion doesn’t work? I don’t know about ayurveda, but in west we don’t use this combo. It’s either honey and milk or honey with onion.
        Please be more specific, I’m not sure I understand you.
        Laura

  2. Hi plz send me a detail of making honey onion syrup for for dry hard cough for my 4yr old

    1. Hi Sheri,
      The simplest yet effective recipe says to julinenne cut an onion and cover it with honey. Let is stay over night and the next day give the child a teaspoon of the liquid every 2 hours. For a few days. Decrease the frequency of teaspoons when the cough decreases itself. Hot teas are also very good. All the best! Laura

  3. hi how do you make the onion and honey mixture,how long does it last for and how much must you take in a day and for how long?

    Thanks

    1. Hi Lucian,
      As it is said in the article, the test was done using a mixture made like this: “Fresh Allium cepa bulbs were rinsed thoroughly in distilled water and air dried; 200 grams were then blended. The resulting paste was allowed to stand for 24 hours. The juice was then filtrated and squeezed out of it. It was stored bellow 4°C.”
      We always make this mixture in winter, when we are getting colds and cough. I cut a big onion (julienne) and cover it with honey. I never wait 24 hours (though it is probably the best) only like 2 hours and then start eating 2 tablespoons of juice 3 or 4 times per day for a week (or 2 if the cough hasn’t gone). I don’t filtrate the onion, just let it stay in the bowl during the whole day and take the juice with a spoon. I keep the mixture at room temperature – it will be finished anyway buy the end of the day.
      Laura

    1. Hi Lucy,
      The study I mentioned in the article was done in vitro and they don’t make any recommendations as to how to put this in practice. My personal opinion is that we should simply eat it in order to treat some internal microbial infection we have (see the 8 strains of microbes listed). I’m sure of its good benefit for our health. Maybe not completely eradicate the microbes (but what does that?) but it will definitely decrease their number enough to ease the burden of your immune system and improve your general health.
      As for the external infections, on our skin, you can try medical grade honey with full trust.
      All the best! Laura

  4. if mixture of garlic,lemon juice,onion,honey (how much of each do i need total and do i let it set over night

    1. Hi Tobi,

      That’s a very good question. With few exceptions you can take it along any drug. The exceptions are: medications for diabetes, medications that slow blood clotting (Anticoagulant / Antiplatelet drugs) – as it might increase the chances of bruising and bleeding, or medication with lithium.
      And, of course, if you are allergic to onion, you should not take it.
      I have updated this article with these interactions, if you want to read more about them.
      Laura

    1. Hi Awudu,
      Three years mean a lot of time and I’m sure you have already searched for a cause of if and tried some remedies. The good thing with natural medicine is its minimum side-effects. If your boldness is caused by a microbe, onion and honey can help a lot. If not, then nothing bad can happen by using it anyway. You may give it try!
      Laura

  5. please can a mixture of onions,garlic and honey cure staphyloccocus aureus infection

    1. Hi James,
      Nobody in the world, for any product, can tell you “this is going to cure you 100%.” Science is telling us which are the chances, and from the studies and trials I’ve cited in this article you can see there are good chances to kill the golden staph. You need to start with all the confidence, because these are natural products, they do not have bad side-effects (if you don’t ingest tons of them) and the reviews are promising.
      If they won’t work, or work temporarily, you need to search what triggered the existence of this staph in your body.
      (I suppose you ask me about the effect after ingestion, as applying it on the skin is out of the question)

      Laura

  6. Please can honey and onion increase my penis so that I can be able to satisfy my girlfriend

    1. Hi Michael,

      I’m not a specialist in Oriental Traditional Medicine, but while different types of honey may induce heat or coldness, onion is known to have warm and spicy characteristics. It should be avoided by those who have heat in the lung, liver, intestine and stomach they may suffer from constipation, heartburn, acid reflux, ulcers in the mouth, cold sore, insomnia or vivid dreams, flatulence, sore throat and very yellow thick phlegm.
      So, the answer is no, you better not try this combination.
      Laura https://healthywithhoney.com/wp-admin/edit-comments.php#comments-form

  7. Hi
    In regards to the honey, onion ..my 17 year old had a bad cough I immediately chopped up a large cooking onion poured raw un processed honey over the onions, 2 cloves pressed garlic and some lemon juice, mixed it all together , covered and let it sit all night. The next day poured the broth that came about in a tall glass bottle , my son took it 3 X /day and his cough cleared up tremendously..love it.

    1. Hi Karen,
      Thank you for taking the time to share this recipe with us. I used to make a similar one for my son, only from onion and honey. And I heard of another recipe made of only onion and water. The onion is boiled for 10 minutes and then strained. The resulted infusion has an expectorant effect, too. (Yet, I find it kind of hard to swallow it. I hated the taste, even with added honey.)
      Adding garlic and lemon can only increase its quality.
      Thanks again.
      Laura

    1. I have inserted some links for those products, inside the article. The honey used is forest honey (honeydew honey) and it can be different from forest to forest, which is why I think it’s a good idea to use exactly what they have used in the study. But I believe the red onion is pretty much the same everywhere, no matter the country.
      Laura

  8. Thanks for sharing. I did not all the benefits of honey and onion. Very interesting read. Thanks for sharing this I will be visiting your site often. I am slowly going more natural and organic.

    Everyday I make or add a change to my diet and lifestyle. I am researching a Candida Cleanse which I did notice that you mentioned onion helps with this. I would love to hear if you know of anything like this or could recommend something.

    1. Hi Angela. There is one thing that I recommend with all my heart. And I know it works for real. Colloidal silver. I tried it with my 3 years old, after I gave him 3 antibiotics with no results. He had Salmonella. Then I tried colloidal silver, gave him less then I was adviced to (I was too afraid, of course), and in one month he was free of it. I know it works for Candida, too.
      Google it and don’t get frightened by that idiot man who took huge quantities of silver all his life, and then complained he turned blue. 🙂 And filled the internet with this.
      Laura

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