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Welcome to Wendy Churchill's Life is a Bag of Revels

Published on 03 Feb, 2010

Why is there an onion in our bedroom?

* Got any grudges or unresolved conflicts polluting the air? Here’s how to get rid of them

* How an onion could keep you free from colds and flus - and lift other toxins from the air

* PLUS: A half measure approach to dealing with toxins in your home...

“So what’s your Revels topic for the week?” my husband asked this morning.

“Bad things in the air.” I replied rather shortly because on the day when he works from home he likes to chat and we don’t have time for it.

Judging by his response he either thinks I’ve finally lost it or thought I was referring to his presence.

My daughters, however, got it - one saying “ghosts”, the other offering “microbes”.

OK, I’m not going to talk about the souls of dead people floating in the air exactly, but rather the kind of ghosts of bad feelings that haunt you if you leave a conflict or difficult issue left unresolved.

You know the kind of thing: the grudge you hold against your spouse because they’ve failed to pull their weight… your belief that you should get a pay rise but your boss won’t give it to you… the bad feeling you have about your friend because of something they said or a way that they acted.

The three words you should never use during a conflict

According to Lee Raffel, author of the book ‘I hate conflict: Seven Steps to Resolving Differences with Anyone in Your Life’, it’s much better to bring such conflicts out into the open rather than sweeping them under the carpet. “In fact, you’ll likely experience a renewal of energy and more peace from speaking up.”

Here are a few of the tips she gives:

* Whenever there’s a conflict or disagreement that needs resolving, suggest to the other person that you try a method for effective resolution you read about in a book. Instead of both of you talking and talking, you each get a chance to sum up how you feel in three sentences. This method stops you from getting wound up and makes you focus on what matters. Most people will stop listening to what the other has to say after three sentences anyway.

* Understand that the best way to resolve a conflict is often through a compromise. The main problem when people disagree about a certain situation is that both people will feel that they are 100% right. Their only goal, therefore, is to get the other person to see that they are right. If you both realise that the other person feels that they are 100% right too then perhaps you will be able to find a compromise.

* During disagreements, try to avoid using the words ‘always’ and ‘never’ or starting sentences with ‘You’. By starting sentences with ‘You’, you sound like you are accusing and nobody likes to be accused. By using sentences like “You never listen to what I say’ the conversation then moves off the situation at hand and just leaves the accused feeling that they need to defend themselves in general.

* Instead, start sentences with ‘I’ and talk about how you feel in the current situation rather than going into generalisations that probably aren’t true. If a generalisation like the above is true then that is perhaps the topic of another situation. However, instead of saying ‘You never listen to what I say’, for example, say ‘I feel that you never listen to what I say’.

How to use onions to absorb bacteria and viruses from the air to prevent or cure illnesses

So what other bad things might one find hanging in the air, you might ask.

Well, as my daughter said, there are microbes. Or more specifically for our purposes today, the flu virus - courtesy of a fascinating email a reader has sent me.

In 1919, when the flu killed 40 million people, there was a doctor who went round visiting farmers. Among the many families he visited he was surprised to find one home in which everybody was healthy. When he asked the wife what she was doing differently, she said that she had placed an unpeeled onion in a dish in every room.

Interested in what might be going on, the doctor placed one of the onions under his microscope. What did he find in the onion? The flu virus!

Because yes, onions are very good at absorbing all kinds of bad things from the air including toxins and bacteria.

According to the reader she has known several people who have used onions successfully to both protect themselves from viruses and speed up recovery. One friend, in fact, emailed to say:

“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.”

Why left-over onions are poisonous - but great against paint fumes

So onions, you see, absorb bad things from the air. I remember another reader once wrote in, in fact, saying you should put a halved onion in a room if you’re painting. Slice the onion open later and you’ll find paint inside it!

By the same token, of course, I now discover that you should never, as I do, leave uncooked sliced onions to use later - even if wrapped and in a fridge. As soon as they’re cut open they absorb any bacteria around!

A commonsense (or just lazy?) approach to toxins

The final thing I was wondering was whether onions would therefore be good at absorbing all the toxins that we have in our homes - from all the things like cleaning products and sprays that I keep on reading about and keep on using.

Because let’s face it, if we avoided all the products that we read might be bad for us then life could become very complicated, scary and expensive. And I certainly don’t want to make this an email that might worry you.

There are, however, a few things worth noting:

* Most plug-in air fresheners release a steady stream of formaldehyde into your home - and are probably something you can easily live without? Fabric dryer-sheets are also particularly nasty and unnecessary.

* There are so many chemicals in your home that could potentially be harmful that it’s almost impossible to avoid all of them. Building materials, paints, cleaning products, household appliances, the glue under your carpet… all things to consider if you’re suffering certain unexplained symptoms but not to get too paranoid about if you’re not.

* Symptoms which might be caused by toxins in the air include feeling nauseous, feeling weak or wheezing or sneezing in particular. And anything that affects breathing or the lungs. The culprit, unfortunately, could be anywhere so start hunting.

* If something has a strong odour (watch out for oven cleaners in particular) try to avoid breathing them in directly. (I personally don’t use cleaning products that I feel give off fumes.)

* If you use non-stick pans, avoid over-heating and open windows if you do.

* The best way to clear toxins from your homes? Open windows and air rooms regularly.

I’m sure many of you will have things to add or disagree with on the matter and I look forward to your replies. It’s a big old topic! 

Other recent issues

Posted on 27 Jan, 2010 -

Getting on With Life in the Rain

Posted on 20 Jan, 2010 -

5 lives and people to inspire you

'Thought for the Day'

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Bag of Revels is Published by Oxfordshire Press Ltd © 2009