Onion in all its varieties, red, white, yellow, scallions, chives, leeks, and shallots, occupies a very specific and carefully circumscribed role in the primal diet. It is not a food Aajonus ate freely or enthusiastically for its own nutritional value. Rather, it appears primarily as a flavoring agent in small quantities within meat sauces, meat dressings, and other preparations, and secondarily as a powerful biological trigger with specific documented effects on intestinal parasites, particularly tapeworms.

Aajonus was personally resistant to onion, describing his own intolerance in detail across multiple accounts. He did not eat it in large quantities by choice. He described himself as someone who prefers "just to flavor" with onion, a very thin slice, perhaps half of that, with a whole meat meal or two meat meals. When he did consume onion in large quantities, it was driven by intense, involuntary cravings that he later came to understand as biological signals from his body, most notably from his tapeworm colony, which apparently used onion as an expulsion trigger.

He situates onion as an optional ingredient in many recipes, always listed as "(optional)", confirming that it is not a required component of the primal diet but a flavoring and biological tool when used intentionally and in appropriate amounts.

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Aajonus identified a clear hierarchy of irritant potency among onion varieties, based on his own personal reactions and those he observed in others:

1. Red onion, The worst. The most irritating and the most reactive. 2. White onion, Second worst. 3. Yellow onion, Third in intensity; less reactive than red or white. 4. Scallions, The least reactive of the onion family, though Aajonus still noted personal reaction even to scallions. 5. Chives, Tolerable in very small quantities. If he got "a few," it was okay. 6. Leeks, Tolerable in very tiny quantities; too much and it becomes a problem. 7. Shallots, Not addressed definitively in this context, left without a clear tolerance rating.

This hierarchy was stated explicitly: "Red is the worst. The next would be white. The next would be yellow. And the least would be scallions although I still react. But it's within that order."

The most dramatic and repeatedly documented property of onion in Aajonus's teachings is its capacity to expel tapeworms from the intestinal tract. This was not a theoretical claim, Aajonus documented it happening to himself multiple times, across multiple locations, and described the experience in substantial detail.

The mechanism appears to be that the odor or biochemical compounds of onion are highly aversive to tapeworms. When onion is consumed, especially raw, in sufficient quantity, and without other foods that might buffer the effect, the tapeworm is expelled, sometimes violently, within a matter of hours.

Aajonus described this as:

• "If you ever need to get rid of a parasite, intestinal parasite, because it's too much for you, which it shouldn't be, just eat an onion by itself."
• "I could smell it coming out with the onion. Onion evacuated that tapeworm."
• "It came out with diarrhea. And I looked in the toilet and I thought, Oh my God, my tapeworm."

He emphasized that this expulsion was unintentional on his part, each time he ate the onion, he was responding to an intense craving, not deliberately trying to remove his tapeworm. He was devastated each time the tapeworm was expelled because he valued his tapeworm for its role in resolving his lifelong severe constipation.

Aajonus referenced the acid compounds in onion as relevant to blood chemistry. When discussing a person with a "blood problem with that acid," he suggested that the acids from onion, the very compounds causing the problem, could be made manageable by pairing the onion with raw cheese blended with egg. He said: "you need those acids that you're having a problem with. In your blood."

This suggests he understood onion as carrying specific acidic compounds that, when properly buffered by fats and proteins, could be therapeutically useful rather than purely irritating.

Aajonus noted that when light glandular meats, brain, thyroid, kidney, are blended with raw milk and red onion, the result "tastes like clam chowder all the time. Some salty or some less salty. But they're all very salty. And it's a very easy way to eat it." This suggests onion plays a palatability role in making otherwise challenging foods more approachable and edible within the primal diet framework.

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This is a critical distinction in Aajonus's account of onion reactivity. When discussing the person with severe red onion intolerance, someone who could be "knocked out for a day, maybe two" by a piece of onion the size of a fingernail, he made the following observation:

"It depends. If it was cooked early, I don't have as much reaction. But raw, in any form, any place I would get a raw, it wouldn't matter what it was with."

This reveals that raw onion carries a significantly higher reactive load than cooked onion. The compounds responsible for the irritant and expulsive effects are present in greater intensity in raw form. This is consistent with the primal diet philosophy that raw foods carry the full biochemical complexity of the plant, including its most biologically active components.

However, Aajonus did not recommend cooking onion as a solution. His recommendations consistently involve raw onion, in very small quantities, paired with buffering foods like raw cheese and egg.

The state in which onion functions changes dramatically based on quantity:

• A very thin slice, half of that, adequate for flavoring in a meat meal; within Aajonus's typical personal use
• A quarter-inch by quarter-inch cube, one thin slice, the specific quantity used in the cheese-and-egg meat sauce formula
• A teaspoon, used in multiple recipe formulations as an optional ingredient
• Half an onion, the quantity that reliably expelled Aajonus's tapeworm; far outside normal usage; driven by craving

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In his Vietnam/Cambodia tapeworm accounts, Aajonus documented that he tried to buy a red onion at an outdoor market in Hanoi but they did not have red onion available. He therefore ate a yellow onion. He noted he only ate half of it, partly because yellow onion was less intense to him than red, and partly because his craving guided the quantity.

When he was a starving fruitarian in the desert, he encountered a field of red onions, and he sat eating two or three onions at a time, describing himself as "picky" about them even in that state of starvation. This was on the Mojave or similar desert, a context he described as eating onions "like an apple" during starvation, something he otherwise found repulsive.

The onion Aajonus ate in Hanoi that expelled his tapeworm was purchased "across the street at the outdoor market", fresh, outdoor-market sourced, not packaged or industrially processed. No contamination warnings about onion sourcing are provided in the source material.

In recipe contexts, onion is handled several ways:

• Blenderized into sauce, blended together with other ingredients like cheese, egg, butter, tomato
• Diced and stirred in, folded into sauce after blenderizing other ingredients, maintaining some texture
• Chopped/diced, used as a topping or mixed element
• Thin-sliced, for flavoring in meat preparations

Aajonus's recipes consistently offer an alternative preparation for onion: "Instead of blenderizing onion, dice and gently stir into sauce before basting and marinating." This indicates he recognized that some people prefer or need the onion less fully integrated into the sauce.

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Aajonus developed a specific pairing protocol for people who react badly to raw onion but need the acidic compounds it provides. This was given as a direct recommendation to a workshop attendee who described being "knocked out for a day, maybe two" by a fingernail-sized piece of raw red onion.

The protocol he prescribed:

"Only take a section about like this. A piece. A square. Like that. And use this much cheese. And blend it with an egg. Blend it all together. And see if you have a reaction."

More specifically, the formula as described elsewhere in the workshops:

• Cheese: "a thumb size", described as approximately "two of your first joint of your thumb", blended
• Egg: one egg
• Onion: "a one quarter inch by one quarter inch cube of one thin slice of onion", red onion specifically referenced as the test variety, though yellow was offered as the starting point for those highly reactive

He said: "you need those acids that you're having a problem with. In your blood. Because you need those acids." This indicates the pairing is not merely for palatability, the cheese and egg are required to buffer the onion acids so they can be utilized in the blood rather than causing systemic disruption.

He further specified that the onion must be blended with the cheese and egg, not simply placed alongside them. The blending is what ensures the acids are appropriately bound and buffered by the fat and protein matrix.

In all meat sauce and glandular applications, onion appears alongside substantial fat and protein:

• Red onion in brain/thyroid/kidney preparations: blended with raw milk
• Red onion in Cheesy Chicken sauce: with olive oil, lemon juice, raw cheese, hot pepper
• Red onion in Thousand Island Meat-Dressing: with cherry tomatoes, olive oil, raw egg, raw butter, garlic
• Red onion in Ceviche: with flax oil or olive oil, lemon/lime juice, tomato, cilantro, garlic

In every case, onion is surrounded by fats (butter, olive oil, cream) and proteins (egg, cheese, meat), confirming the consistent pattern that onion is never consumed alone in normal dietary use.

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• Aajonus's personal standard: "a very thin slice, maybe half of that with a whole meat meal or two meat meals"
• Recipe standard for sauces: 1 teaspoon chopped red onion, listed as optional
• Meat sauce formula: one quarter-inch by one quarter-inch cube, one thin slice, described as the minimum useful amount

• Even scallions caused a reaction in Aajonus, just within tolerable range
• A piece "the size of my fingernail" of red onion could knock out a highly reactive person for a day or two
• Half an onion consumed alone was the dose that expelled the tapeworm, far outside normal dietary use, driven only by overwhelming craving

No specific frequency guidance is given. Onion is treated as an occasional flavoring agent, used in individual meal preparations when desired, not as a daily therapeutic food consumed on a schedule.

For those with existing intolerance: test only once, on a day with no obligations, using the cheese-egg-onion blended formula at the smallest possible quantity (quarter-inch cube), with yellow onion as the starting variety rather than red.

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Description: Described as a sauce/topping for meat, sometimes called a "meat sauce" in workshop context.

Formula: - Raw cheese: thumb-sized piece (approximately two first-joints of the thumb), blended - Raw egg: 1 egg - Red onion: one quarter-inch by one quarter-inch cube, one thin slice - Blend all together

Use: Applied to or eaten with meat as a sauce

From the recipe book: - 1 serving Pasta Substitute - 3 oysters - 2 mushrooms - 2 tablespoons raw unsalted butter - 1.5-inch cube raw unsalted Monterey or Muenster cheese - 1 slice red or white onion - 2 tablespoons fresh sweet red pepper (optional)

Instructions: Blenderize 1.5 oysters, 1 mushroom, butter, half the cheese, half the onion, and half the red pepper together in a 4-ounce jar on medium speed for 10 seconds. Dice remaining oysters, mushrooms, and onion. Fold diced ingredients together with sauce and pour over pasta. Grate remaining cheese. Top dish with grated cheese.

Alternative: Do not blenderize onion in sauce. Chop onion and fold into sauce.

From the recipe book: - 5 fresh oysters - 2 mushrooms - 5 tablespoons unsalted raw butter - 6 tablespoons grated no-salt-added raw cheese - 1 teaspoon chopped red onions - 1 circular slice(s) fresh sweet red peppers (optional)

From both recipe books: - 5 tablespoons stone-pressed olive oil - 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice - 1-inch cube sliced no-salt-added raw cheese - 1/4 to 1 fresh hot pepper - 1 teaspoon fresh red onion (optional)

Instructions: Blenderize all ingredients except chicken together in a 4-ounce jar on medium speed for 10 seconds. Slice chicken into narrow strips, baste and marinate for 20–60 minutes.

Alternative: Instead of blenderizing onion, dice and gently stir into sauce before basting and marinating.

• 2 ounces cherry tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon stone-pressed olive oil
• 1 raw egg
• 1 tablespoon unsalted raw butter
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh red onion
• 1 slice fresh garlic

Instructions: Blenderize all ingredients in an 8-ounce jar on medium speed for 10 seconds.

• 5 to 8 ounces fresh ocean wild-caught raw fish
• 3 to 4 ounces fresh lemon or lime juice
• 1/2 to 1 diced fresh tomato
• 4 to 6 tablespoons flax oil or stone-pressed olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon chopped red onion (optional)
• 1 slice minced fresh garlic (optional)

Instructions: Dice fish and marinate in lemon or lime juice for 20 minutes to 24 hours. Stir oil, onion and garlic together for 1 minute. Pour off juice from fish. Pour oil mixture over fish. Top with diced tomato.

• 5 to 8 ounces Escolar fish
• 1/2 diced tomato
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon diced apples
• 1 teaspoon diced red onion (optional)
• 1 teaspoon unheated honey (optional)

• 5 to 8 ounces fresh shrimp
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
• 1 teaspoon chopped red onions (optional)
• 1/4 to 1/2 finely chopped fresh hot pepper
• 1/3 partially ripe papaya
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Instructions: Sprinkle ginger over papaya and mash together until saucy, or blenderize with ginger in 4-ounce jar on high speed for 5–10 seconds. Stir in pepper and onion. Spoon over shrimp and top with parsley.

• 2 tomatoes
• 6 tablespoons stone-pressed olive oil
• 3 tablespoons unsalted raw butter
• (spices: cardamon, coriander, ginger, fenugreek, clove, cinnamon, allspice, peppercorns, nutmeg, paprika)
• 1 slice fresh garlic clove
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh red onion
• 1 fresh hot red pepper
• 1 tablespoon unheated honey

Instructions: Blenderize dry spices first until flour. Blenderize all ingredients together in a 12- or 16-ounce jar for 15 seconds. Let stand for at least 10 hours. Keeps refrigerated for at least 1 month.

Same formula as above but using flax oil instead of stone-pressed olive oil, with 1/2 teaspoon red onions.

• 6 ounces stone-pressed olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1-inch cube sliced no-salt-added raw cheese
• 1/4 to 1 fresh hot pepper
• 1 teaspoon fresh red onion (optional)

Instructions: Blenderize all except chicken in 4-ounce jar on medium speed for 10 seconds.

• 1/2 avocado
• 6 circular slices raw cucumber
• 3 circular slices raw zucchini, crookneck or sunburst squash
• 1 stalk cauliflower tops
• 1/2 tomato
• 2 sliced mushrooms
• 1 serving any sauce
• 2 tablespoons red onion (optional)

• Includes diced fresh red onion (optional), teaspoons quantity, stirred in remaining after blenderizing other ingredients:
• - Chop mushroom. Blenderize all ingredients except half the chopped mushroom and onion together in an 8-ounce jar on medium speed for 15 seconds. Stir in remaining chopped mushrooms and onion.

• Brain, thyroid, or kidney: specified amounts
• Organic adrenal gland: 1 tablespoon
• Raw milk: ounces (per jar size)
• Red onions: tablespoons
• Blenderize all together in a 12-ounce jar on high speed for 20 seconds

Result: "Tastes like clam chowder all the time. Some salty or some less salty. But they're all very salty."

Aajonus described native Polynesian preparations on Morea (near Tahiti) in which raw poultry was marinated in "lemon or lime juice with tomato and some onion." He identified this as the first time he was served raw chicken from another person, and credited the Polynesian natives with teaching him that raw poultry preparation. The onion in this context was part of the marinade base.

Multiple dressings and sauces in the recipe books call for onion to be stirred in after blenderizing other ingredients, the consistent alternative preparation method across sauce types is: "Stir in onion after blenderizing all other ingredients together."

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Aajonus referenced eating raw red onions like apples during a period when he was a "starving fruitarian" in the desert and there was nothing else to eat. He sat eating two or three onions at a time. This stands in complete contrast to his later primal diet approach, where he would take only a very thin slice, or half of that, with an entire meat meal.

He described this as the only time he had eaten onion that way outside of the craving episodes with the tapeworm. The starvation context drove him to eat something his body normally found too hot and overwhelming.

Aajonus told the tapeworm-onion story multiple times across multiple workshop settings, with slight variations in reported tapeworm length (ranging from 36 feet to 50 feet across different tellings) and slight variations in location detail (sometimes Cambodia, sometimes Hanoi Vietnam, sometimes he describes going between both). Consistent elements across all versions:

• He craved onion intensely and uncharacteristically
• He ate approximately half an onion raw
• Within 5–10 hours he expelled the tapeworm via diarrhea
• He retrieved the tapeworm from the toilet to measure it
• He spread it across the wooden floor of his hotel room
• It shriveled rapidly, from a noodle shape to rice-sized within 2–10 hours
• He was devastated, angry, and upset that the tapeworm was gone
• He valued the tapeworm for having resolved his 56-year constipation history
• Weeks later, he observed more segments moving, indicating some tapeworm survived
• After approximately 5–6 months, the tapeworm was fully gone

The relevance to onion is that this is Aajonus's most documented specific biochemical claim about onion, not its nutritional value, not its vitamin content, not its enzyme activity, but its capacity as a reliable expulsion agent for intestinal tapeworms when consumed raw, alone, and in sufficient quantity.

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