IT was about an hour into a restless sleep when I realized this was my night ahead, so long as I kept the handful of red onions stuck to the bottom of my bare feet – I had to.
I attempted the TikTok trend of sleeping with onions in my socks to remove toxins from my body, but all it did was stress me out and stink up my room.
Lifestyle creator Amanda Jones posted a video introducing me to an old wive’s tale circulating the app.
The TikTok star sliced thin pieces of red onion and slept all night with them in her socks.
She explained how onions supposedly draw toxins out of your body if you keep them on your feet all night.
And how you know it worked is if they’re black in the morning – sounds unpleasant.
As crazy as it seems, Amanda’s not the only one to know about the onion remedy.
According to Healthline, the origins of this tale come from an old belief that placing onions around the house would prevent individuals from getting the “bubonic plague.”
“Onions are rich in sulphuric compounds,” Healthline notes.
Placing these potent compounds on the bottoms of your feet allows them to “kill bacteria and viruses and purify the blood.”
Many people use this remedy when they’ve got an illness, infection, or flu.
Others, like Amanda, try the old wive’s tale before they’re sick to aid exhaustion and clear the body as a preventative measure.
As freezing weather and flu season have taken their seat for the months ahead, I thought there was no better time than now to try this fascinating trend.
Now, I may have a sensitive nose and a tendency to be a bit dramatic.
However, believe me when I tell you that the smell of onion juice won’t leave your nose for 24 hours if you try this.
Knowing myself and my aversion to the stark aroma of these vegetables, I had to find a pair of socks I never wanted to wear again.
The polka-dotted pair from seventh grade was the obvious choice.
I cut one thin onion slice in half, swiftly apologized to the pair of socks, and shoved the onions inside.
Aside from spending 7 hours being “the onion girl,” the worst part was putting the socks on.
A cold and wet sensation pulsed through the bottom of my feet while I walked around my apartment.
It felt as if I was walking on chilled worms.
And the feeling didn’t slip my mind as I got into bed.
For me, sleeping under my sheets was never in the cards.
I wasn’t going to make my sheets suffer the experiment, and I didn’t want to find out if a lingering smell on them would withstand the test of time.
Like a vampire, I slept on my comforter with no blanket.
“Slept” is a generous term as the scent rested in my nose better than I did in my bed.
After hours of tossing and turning, I got up at 5 a.m., eager to rip the now-rubbery slices from my feet.
To my disappointment, yet unsurprisingly, the onions weren’t black, just rubbery.
The smell wasn’t lost, but my remaining hope that the remedy would work was gone.
