You:
my mom has cancer and it is imperative to keep the “flu bugs” away. her home healthcare aide told us that if you cut an onion in half and put it near the entrance to the home, and half in each room, it will keep the flu at bay.
May I suggest that you consider adding 20,000+ units of Vitamin D3 (not D2) per day to your mom's daily regime. I work with urgent and primary care and we really believe that D3 is profoundly important to health. Not to mention it is dirt cheap!
We try to get all of our people and patients to take at least 10,000 units per day to boost their immune systems - all the time, not just for the flu season. We do believe that it offers protection against all types of flu and upper respiratory infections - both to help you avoid catching them and to help you survive them if you do.
While I don't what cancer your mom has or what stage she is, the benefits would good for all that she is dealing with. Watch the YouTube video below.
D3 will boost her immune system and has a very strong-anti cancer effect. In fact, D3 is involved in almost every system in the body and we need a lot more than we get. See Links below.
Your mother needs a therapeutic level of D3 in her body and you really can't overdo this. My mother is 86 and is in great shape. I started her on Vitamin D3 when evidence came out that it almost eliminates falling in older people. We went from a fall every couple of weeks to 0 falls in the last 2 years. She has been taking 15,000 units/day for the last 5 years. That sounds like a lot but it really is a tiny amount. 1,000 IU is equivalent to 0.025 mg—only 0.000025 of a gram!
I did just make my mom close her 60 year old ladies wear business. She drove there everyday, kept the books and did the buying, but this was for economic reasons, not her health. She would be better off working but this is not a great time for better womens apparel. She can just stay mad at me.
Supposedly you can get 20-30,000 units from 30 minute of sunshine. I doubt that your mom is getting much of that.
If she is not in good shape right now, you might consider giving her the 20,000+ units (yes, 40,000 units/day)twice a day for a few weeks - 2 or 3 - and then get her tested for her levels. The correct test your doctor needs to order is "25(OH)D"(this test and nothing else!) You will probably find that she is still low, but you can adjust the dose to get her to a therapeutic level (60 to 90.0 ng/mL) and maintain it. With cancer, I would shoot for the high side.
Not to muddy the water, but I do want to get this in here. If her Omega 3 levels, DHA and EPA, are not being maintained, she would benefit (a lot) from 9 grams of good quality fish oil per day. It sounds like a lot but it is 1 tablespoon and it takes that if she is sick.
Fish oil is a macro nutrient ie. food. 1 gram is just not going help her. The vitamin D and the fish oil might have impressive results in how she does and how she feels. Good luck!
Vitamin D and Swine Flu in Nursing Homes
Vitamin D and Cancer - UC at San Diego YouTube
The Uber Nutrient Worth Hundreds of Billions
PS. Do a Google on "curcumin cancer" on the web. You will find some very interesting new science coming out now.
PPS. You can use your onion for something else. ☺
Start googling. It's a fermented tea made with live cultures and enzymes. I'm somewhat of a fanatic about it now. I just gave my insurance salesman 3 bottles.
I am trying to get those who want to use it continuously to learn to brew their own.
There is lots of info about fermented foods and their health benefits.
I recall reading about kim chi curing bird flu. I started drinking this stuff and within a few weeks noticed my toe nail fungus was healing. I also put some in a little bottle with a tip on it and put some on my toes each am and pm.
I met someone in a health food store who told me that her hospital where she works was considering using kombucha as a disinfectant. It works by the good bacteria crowding out the bad bacteria.
This really is a fun hobby. I opened several bottles today with pieces of mango in it. I also have some ready that is mixed with cranberry juice.
Fortunately, I have two ovens so I have four gallons of this stuff brewing in one oven with just the light bulb providing a nice comfy constant temp for the kombucha.