Why Does Chewing Gum Prevent You from Crying When Chopping Onions?

Onions are made up of a tunic of outer leaves (the brown layer), scales (the white firm juicy edible part), and the basal plate (often called the "hairy part" or the "root"). Onions make you cry because:

1. When you cut the basal plate or shoot, they release an enzyme.
2. That enzyme reacts in the rest of the onion to release a gas.
3. When that gas combines with water, it creates an acid.
4. If that water is in your eye, you have acid in your eye. That makes you cry.

Chewing gum while cutting onions prevents tears by forcing you to breathe through your mouth. This disperses the irritant so that a significantly smaller amount reaches the lachrymal glands, preventing them from being irritated enough to release tears.

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