Onions are an essential item in every cook's kitchen. Their unmistakable flavor enhances everything from salads to sautes. While most things that you really like are usually bad for you, onions actually have some great health benefits. Native Americans have been using them to help with colds and flu, and the World Health Organization recognizes their ability to help with respiratory infections and other lung ailments. Onions have a high sulfur content which fills them with antiseptic and antibiotic properties that can even help fight off cancer. Onions can also increase your immunity, stabilize insulin levels, keep arteries clear, and even aid with arthritis. Here are five ways that we can take advantage of the healing properties of onions.

1. Common Illnesses

• Cough - Wrap about one tablespoon of brown sugar with a sliced onion for about an hour. Chop it into a relish and eat with lunch and dinner to ease a cough. Sulfur in the onion attacks the microorganisms that are causing the cough helping ease pain and inflammation.
• Chest congestion - Fine chop an onion and add coconut oil, making a paste. Use it as you would use a medicated salve on your chest or inhale it through a towel to relieve congestion and aid with getting mucous out of your lungs.
• Sore Throat - Soak an onion skin with water and gargle. It will ease a sore throat. You can mix in a little honey to help with the taste.
• Colicky baby - Make a tea out of diced onion and water. About a teaspoon every hour mixed into a bottle of juice or water will help them calm down and relax, strengthening the stomach while aiding in digestion.
• Ear infections - Put a chopped onion in an old sock, tie it closed, and hold it on your ear until the pain is gone.
• Vomiting - Alternating two teaspoons of peppermint tea and 2 teaspoons of onion juice every five minutes will help. A finely chopped onion squeezed through a cheesecloth will yield enough juice.
• Fever - Coat the soles of your feet with coconut oil and sliced onion. Cover with plastic wrap and a sock. It will attract the bacteria and toxins that are causing your fever and help get them out of your body.

2. Hair Loss

• Boil an onion in water. Use the water on your hair before washing to promote hair growth and help with dandruff.

3. Bug Bites

• Rub a bug bite with an onion slice or apply onion juice to help with pain and inflammation.

4. Cuts and Burns

• The onion film will help heal cuts and prevent infection. Fresh onion can also be rubbed on burns to help with both pain and healing.

5. Cleans the Air

• An onion will pull negative pathogens out of the air making it healthier to breathe.