- Onions - At home herbalism -

Onions are often considered a food rather than a medicinal, and in our experience we love foods and herbs that can cross both those lines. Often we already have some idea of what qualities onions can offer to us, for one, I think it is fair to say that the smell of cooked onions w/ some butter or oil, often offers compliments that range from “that smells delicious” to “now I am hungry.” Onions definitely are stimulating to our appetites, yet little did I know prior to the pandemic just how many health and wellness aspects are held in the versatile kitchen favorite.

Onions besides being delicious, are supportive to the lymph immune system, are antibacterial, demulcent, expectorant, diaphoretic, stimulant, antispasmodic, antimicrobial, carminative, and strengthen the lungs after a long or depleting illness. This classic traditional recipe for an onion syrup is an easy one to make and a classic preparation used throughout the past century. Onion preparations are both cost effective, easy to use, and delicious, and because they are food most feel comfortable working with onions at home. Cooked onions offer a different scope of helpful qualities from their raw counterparts, and are more associated with strengthening the digestive system, warming the middle/triple burner, stimulating appetite, moving qi, and being highly nutritive. On a constituent level, (for all your phytochemistry nerds) onions are full of essential oils, ally sulfide, allylpropyldisulfide, and methypropyldisulfide, and have phenolic acid, enzymes, sterols, sugars and sulfur containing compounds such as allicin, alliin, methyalliin, cycloalliin. Last but not least, onions contain various flavonoids such as quercitin, cyanidin, paeonidin, and glycosides and Vitamins A, B, C + selinium. What is not to love about all those ripe and bioavailable nutrients found in onions, foods, mushrooms and herbs.

The sulfur containing compounds of raw onions, make them great allies for complaints that call for antiseptic, antibacterial, antimicrobial and antispasmodic qualities. And the flavonoids attract me to onions whenever I am not feeling well, and need a boost... and best of all onions are easy to find, well known, cost effective, safe in large and daily dose, and can be used raw, and or cooked in food, infused in honey, made into a syrup (recipe below) or used as a topical chest compress, just a few of the many uses for this versatile garden wonder.

I’ve made the recipe below a few times over the past two years, and it is by far one of my favorite and most delicious preparations for winter wellness, not only is the syrup delicious, but the leftover coated in honey, onion parts make for delicious eating, or tasty savory soup broth base.

Onion Syrup

Take 4-6 onions and cut them in half and remove the skins

Roast half of them until soft in the over at 375 degrees until soft

Take the other half and set them straight in the bowl (this way we get benefits from both the cooked and raw onions)

Once onions are roasted, place them in a bowl and pour 1-2 cups of raw honey over them

Using a fork, mash the onions into the honey as best as possible

Cover this mixture and set aside on the counter for 6-8hours

Once the appropriate time has passed, strain out the onions and set the honey in a sealable container

Keep the container of syrup in the fridge and Eat 3-4 tbsp daily, drizzle on foods, or enjoy on a salad

The leftover onions are delicious and nutritious, you can use them as a soup stock base or add to your bone broth. You can also just eat them as is, honey covered onion goodness and an excellent ally for lung care during the winter months