Readers who followed the Dracula movies of the Sixties must know all about garlic and how vampires just cannot stand them! These days, vampires are no longer villains, they are heroes, and if box office receipts are any thing to go by, vampires have become the trendy new thing. So garlic is probably out... but ONIONS are experiencing α major revival of interest. Why? Here's what's being emailed among the older folk. . . we summarize it here simply because we think readers paranoid about H1N1 might find this beneficial.

In 1919, the flu killed 40 million people and many farmers died. One farmer and his family however stayed extremely healthy and when a visiting doctor asked what was different about the farmer's household. The farmer's wife told the doctor she had placed an unpeeled onion in a dish in each of the rooms of the home.

The doctor was puzzled and asked to take one of the onions back to the lab for testing. She obliged and when the doctor put the onion under the microscope, he discovered that the flu virus was flourishing inside the onion. It had obviously absorbed the bacteria, there fore keeping the family free from the virus.

Another story comes from a hairdresser in L.Α who reported that some years ago when her employees and customers were coming down with the flu, she remembered reading about the ONION as protection against the flu. So she quickly placed several bowls of onions around her salon. To her surprise, her staff recovered and did not get sick after that.

Is this tip worth trying? Definitely. The next time you hear about a new flu strain rearing its ugly presence and everyone seems to be coming down with the flu quickly go 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 on top somewhere. Try it and see what happens!

Many people have done it and they have escaped getting the flu. If you find this protects you and your loved ones from getting sick, pass on this valuable grandmother's tip. Even if you do get it, it is likely to be a mild case. And onions will not break ,your budget.

Apparently, even if you are already down with the flu, cutting up an onion can help you recover faster. Here's what you need to do. Cut both ends off an onion, place one end on a folk and then place the folk inside an empty bowl then place the bowl next to the sick person through the night. You will find that the onion will turn black in the morning having absorbed all the germs from the sick person, who will feel a lot better.

Apparently onions and garlic have powerful antibacterial, antiseptic properties, so when placed around any room, they are extremely efficient at soaking up all the germs and bacteria floating in the air.

Now here's what you must also know, that

leftover onions are poisonous!

You should never eat or use for cooking any leftover onions. This means onions cut in half left in the fridge or saved from yesterday. Leftover onions cause food poisoning. Why? Because as soon as you cut up an onion   and it stays uncooked, the onion becomes a magnet for attracting germs and bacteria. They just love the onion and they start reproducing fast and this is why cut onions when left out for a couple of hours will turn black.

Even when, you put the onions in to a plastic zipper bag it is not safe. So remember to cook your onions as soon as you peel them, and do not keep half cut onions to eat the next day. They become very poisonous, even over a single night, as there will be toxic bacteria all over them.

And definitely be wary of raw onions in hot dogs and hamburgers bought at fast food stalls. It's not the mayonnaise and the cream you need to be scared of, it's the raw onion! Finally, if you are a dog lover - make sure never to feed onion to your dogs. Their stomachs just cannot digest onions. They will roll over in agony when fed onions!