Have you considered getting intimate with onions?                                                                                                        

Here’s yet another reason for embracing them:  They eat up warts. No kidding. Ok, nobody’s exactly done the studies to prove it, but hey, scientists, this is how reputations get made.

Everyone’s screaming it in cyberspace: onion juice can get rid of those unsightly viruses. Sure, the evidence is anecdotal, but bet your sweet Vidalia that somebody will start researching it soon.

Here’s how I got rid of my daughter’s stubborn plantar warts, on eight of her fingers, encrusted in globs of calloused, outraged skin. (The doctor’s freezing with liquid nitrogen—ouch– didn’t phase ’em.) 

Hollow out a half of onion and fill the middle with salt. Let it sit overnight so the salt absorbs the onion’s magic juices.

Next day and for several days thereafter, rub salt all over your wounds. We often wrapped the salted fingers in strip bandages or, when we had the patience, gauze (breathes nicely), changing the dressings periodically.  After about 10 days, the black bug-gers disappeared, at which point we put our hands in those of a skillful manicurist, who used her pumice to remove the debris.  

Holy moly!  Six months now and still wart-free.

What is it about onions that do the trick?  If you’re following  my Eat and Beat Cancer blog, you’ll know that they’re members of the Allium family and originated in Afghanistan, where, poor country, the pests are pervasive. As onions evolved, they developed powerful chemical warriers to aid in the fight. One key ingredient is sulfur, the same natural element that forms the basis of many antibiotics.

So is it the sulfur that’s the secret to destroying warts?  Who’ll win the Nobel Prize for this discovery?  Stay tuned for the next installment in our continuing love affair with this chum of the earth.