The knowledge of using onions as medicine goes all the way back to ancient Egypt. Rosemary Gladstar, a great herbalist, makes a honey onion syrup using low heat in the preparation, but over the years of having bee hives for honey, we’ve learned that heat destroys the vital enzymes in raw honey, so I prefer to make my raw honey onion syrup with absolutely no heat.
My homemade honey onion cough and decongestant syrup is fast and easy. Make as much or as little as needed – it will store beautifully for at least a year at room temp due to honey’s preserving qualities. This recipe is perfect for beginners.
This interesting old story about tuberculosis (with a terrible cough) is from the Depression, and it illustrates the power of honey onion syrup.
“He [Dr. Christopher] was practicing with a small band many years ago. He was going to travel to Europe, entertaining on board a ship. But as he would play his banjo, he had such a bad cough that he would cough in rhythm! A French dancer who was with them said, “That’s awful”. “We can’t continue this way.” She went off into the kitchen in her apartment. When she came back to finish the practice, she brought him a bowl of Onion Syrup. Dr. Christopher had had this cough for four years. He had been working in a planing mill, running a three-gun sander and the sandings from the hardwood–mahogany and similar wood–came into his face. It was during the Depression and they couldn’t afford a mask, so he had to contrive a mask himself. However, it didn’t work, and he got his annoying chronic cough. Medical doctors and his family physician, told him he had tuberculosis, which they said they couldn’t treat or cure. But after just a spoonful of this Onion Syrup, Dr. Christopher had the first peace and ease he had had in a long time.”
My recipe below is exactly the same. “The honey extracts the Onion power, which is the greatest antihistamine known. This goes into the honey solution and provides a wonderfully effective cough syrup.” (Source)
Onions are one of nature’s greatest anti-inflammatory troopers and are effective antibacterial and antibiofilm agents. (PubMed study)
Really good video, a quick 2 minutes.. (Refresh this article if the video is slow to appear).
If your cough is productive, as in you’re coughing up mucous, avoid suppressing it. The action of coughing is important to loosen up phlegm or mucous and get it out of your lungs.
But if your cough is not productive, just annoying and disrupting sleep, then my other homemade no-side-effect cough remedy (a cough suppressant and different recipe altogether) is what I’d choose. —>
Make a Simple Honey Onion ‘Get It Up and Out’ Cough Syrup
You Will Need:
• 1 or 2 red or yellow onions (though the more pungent, the deeper the warmth and decongestant action will be)
• Honey, preferably raw
• A glass jar with lid. A pint or slightly larger is a good size to start with.
Directions:
1. Peel the onion and cut into slices. Pack into container.
2. Pour enough honey to cover the slices but leave a 1/2″ of head space. If not completely covered with raw honey, it could allow mold to grow in the jar.
3. Let this sit overnight in an lidded container at room temperature. The honey will pull the juice of the onion into the honey and soften the onion.
4. Place a small bowl under the jar to catch any overflow as the onions ferment. Screw the cap on lightly so pressure doesn’t build up as it ferments.
How To
Eat 1-2 honey-soaked onion slices AM and mid-day for a week with a teaspoon of the honey syrup. When the onion slices are consumed, you can add more from another freshly sliced onion or take the syrup that is left by spoon.
You can do this on an acute or maintenance basis. Stay well hydrated to help aid in expectorating the loosened phlegm. You should be able to breathe easier.
The Science About Onions
Onions stimulate the immune system and contain about 25 active therapeutic compounds. They reduce symptoms of diabetes, asthma, are associated with a reduced risk of stomach and brain cancer in humans, inhibit platelet clumping in thrombosis (a process leading to heart attacks and strokes), reduce levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, and more. (1)
Anti-bacterial activity: onions have antibacterial activity against many strains of bacteria. Onions that were stored over 3 months showed the strongest antimicrobial activity. (2)
Eliminate toxins. Onions also contain phenols which are natural antioxidants. The journal Food Chemistry reported that many varieties of onion kill off free radicals and protect against DNA damage. (3)
We’ve also known since 2002 that onion juice (without the honey) is a successful topical treatment for alopecia areata.
The healing ingredient with many functions in onions is quercetin. (source)
“We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!” ~Numbers 11:5-6
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Bea Ann Bridges
Wow, thank you Jacqueline! This is great info and I’m so happy to get this recipe!!! I am on my 4th week of a terrible respiratory infection and had a serious cough for the first 2 weeks that keep me up many nights! I’m still coughing on and off and coughing up phlegm after 4 weeks! At one point early on, my sinuses were so stuffy that I could not breathe through my nose and didn’t think I could possibly sleep breathing through my mouth, and I also felt it would dry my throat out more and increase the coughing. We don’t use pharmaceuticals so I started looking online for sinus decongestant remedies, and found one that said to peel and cut an onion and put it by your bedside. I thought it was a long shot but was desperate so I tried it, and what do your know, it worked! After cutting it and breathing in the vapors, it almost instantly unclogged my sinuses and I could breathe! So I put it on the bed beside me all night and my sinuses never clogged up again the entire night!
One down side to mention is that our 9 month old puppy started acting sick the next morning, was lethargic and not eating. I, myself, could not smell the onion odor b/c I still have loss of smell from having covid over 7 months ago, but my husband and daughter told me the whole house wreaked of onion! So that strong smell of onion was enough to harm the dog without her even eating it. She was better in a day or 2 after we got the raw onion out of the house.
But that experience certainly showed us the power of onions and I will definitely be making this syrup to have on hand and will print the recipe for future use in case the internet goes down, like Klaus Schwab, of WEF has warned us about.
Jacqueline, can you please recommend a good raw honey to use for this recipe? I have read that most honey labeled as raw is not truly raw, but has been heated to make it pour-able, so I’m not sure which brand is healthy. Thank you again sooooooo much for all your great reporting and advice~ God bless you!
Jacqueline
Hi, Bea Ann,
I love that you (to my great pleasure) verified what has been debunked on the onion’s molecular power by just cutting it an placing it at your bedside!
I keep reading that has been debunked but i know that we can’t rrust academia any longer when it proves the worth of one of God’s gifts!
We use our own honey, but this post may give you some ideas and there are some links as well. I would buy locally! https://deeprootsathome.com/7-bee-utiful-benefits-of-raw-honey/
Blessings,
Jacque
Katie
This is great! A sliced onion beside the bed of the sick person has been our family’s most successful remedy for colds/flu for many years! I was going to mention it here and found your comment already sharing the idea!
One of my children has made onion syrup on a regular basis for a few years and takes it to stay well, but also because the taste is so good!
Katie
Jacqueline
Yes, Katie, I think everyone should try it… SO many anecdotal sotires about how an onion saved the day (or night)! 😀 ~J
Katie
I forgot to mention that my grandmother (farmer’s wife and mother of six children) made honey onion syrup for coughs for her children because it was cheap and effective! She was the one who told me about it when my first child was born many years ago – that was before I learned about good nutrition and natural remedies, but it sounded like a great idea to me!
Stacey R
Hi,
Can this recipe be made with wild onion? would it have the same anti-histamine properties?
I sure do have a lot of them and boy, wouldn’t it be great to have a use for them? 🙂
Jacqueline
Hi, Stacey, I wonder if it would, too! it is for sure in the onion family, so I would try it as a test and see what it does for you! I know you can also do it as a tea by steeping it for 5-8 monutes and drinking it down warm!
Let me know if it works like regular bulb onion, please!
Sending peace,
Jacque
Bea Ann Bridges
Hi Jacque, I made your honey onion syrup and really like it – both the taste of the onions as well as the syrup! I’ve been wanting to write to ask if it needs to be kept refrigerated after making it or just in a cupboard at room temp?
Thank you!
Jacqueline
Hi, Bea Ann, I left the last half of mine uncovered in a dark cupboard. It still looks great and is free of mold and quite tasty, but I think I will refrigerate and cover it so it doesn’t dehydrate.
It has been at least 4 months since I made it (whenever I wrote the post), so that will give you an idea.
As for the name of the video, I usually write that in case one gets removed, but I failed to on that one and have no record of it now.
I have done a thorough search for one that is correct and visual for the reader. It is now in the post replacing the censored one!
Bon appetit! 😀
Blessings,
Jacque
Bea Ann Bridges
Thanks for this info on the honey onion syrup – that’s good to know it can be at room temp for that long, in case of ever losing electricity!
And thank you for the new video link on your chlorine dioxide post – I will watch it soon! I am so fascinated by this new (new to me) “remedy”!
Blessings,
Bea Ann
Bea Ann Bridges
Hi Jacque, I’ve been wanting to ask this question about honey onion syrup and am finally getting around to it. We made several jars last Summer/Fall and put lids on them and placed them in the pantry. Now I’m noticing that all 5 jars have mold on the top of the syrup. Do I need to throw all of them out or is it okay to scrape off the moldy part on top and use what’s below? Kinda gross to think about, but if it’s safe then I would do it.
Thank you!
Bea Ann
Jacqueline
Hi, Bea Ann,
I would need to see the growth on the top. It (any growth) could only happen if the onions were peeking out of the honey and exposed. Honey will allow NO growth of anything bad if the other part of the concoction is totally under the surface. Look up ‘kahm yeast’ online and compare that to frank mold. Kahm yeast can be skimmed safely as it often grows on sauerkraut and we all usually have some to skim off.
I hope that helps.. ~J
Bea Ann Bridges
Thanks Jacque, yes that helps! I believe it’s mold, so in that case I need to throw it all out, right?
John
Err on the side of caution. When in doubt, throw it out.