Why Do Onions Make Us Cry? Science Speaks. By @charm29

We have all felt it before - that sharp stinging sensation, peeling at the centre of our eyes and making them tear up unnecessarily; that painful feeling that brings such a great urge to scratch scratch scratch at our eyes until the smarting stops; that cloying ridiculous smell that never fails to turn our (my) stomach, produced by such a little thing - an onion. We have all felt it before - at least those of us who cook.

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I hate onions.
I absolutely cannot stand them in food, snacks, or anything; unless they are blended or crushed to oblivion, unless I can't see them or bite into them. But as much as I despise these things, they are essential to the body, and also essential to making meals tasty; therefore I am forced to cook with them anyway. 😭 (When I see them in my food I pick them out and throw them away, yucky things)

Back to the topic for today; why do these nasty little fuckers make us cry? Let me tell you a bit about a chemical called syn-Propanethial S-oxide.

Syn-Propanethial S-oxide..

Is a gaseous substance that acts as a lachrymatory agent (causing tears) and triggers tearing and stinging whenever it comes in contact with the eyes. It is the main cause of tears while cutting an onion. How?

When we cut into an inion, we break the cells inside it, thus releasing lachrymatory factor synthase into the air. These synthase enzymes converts the amino acids of the onion into sulfenic acids - and sulfenic acids are very unstable and volatile in nature. (like the price of steem dollars 😁) The unstable sulfenic acids rearranges itself to form syn-Propanethial S-oxide, and when this gas comes in contact with our eyes and nostrils - the waterworks begin! The tears we produce are actually our bodies attempt to wash the chemical away. If it wasn't so painful, it would probably be pretty cool.

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While doing a little research into this topic, it occurred to me that science is a beautiful thing indeed. I mean while we humans just want to cut up our onions in peace; imagine the different processes that takes place inside the body of that onion! Acids released and converted into chemicals - all under the space of seconds! Nano-seconds even. Wow.
And if not for the geniuses who decided to study the process, how on Earth were we going to know that NO - onions aren't magical; they just have a different combination of chemicals and enzymes that causes tears. So whenever you cut an onion and find your eyes smarting in pain, understand that onions are just doing what onions do! Nasty little fuckers.. 😒

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How to Cut an Without Crying:

Okay guys, I have some ideas right here on how to cut an onion without crying. I'm going to be writing only the one's I've tried, and has worked for me; dunno if they'll work for you. You could give it a try though, can't hurt.

• Peel your onion(s) about an hour before you want to make use of them and freeze it. Yep. Put em into your freezer and let it get cooled up nicely. After half an hour, take em out and start slicing! Though it felt like slicing into little pieces of stone, I didn't cry! Worked for me.

• Chew a piece of gum while cutting onions. This is probably the most popular method out there. My mom told me this one and it works for me. While cutting your onions, just chew gum! You won't cry, and it's a great mouth exercise haha.

• Use an extremely sharp knife to slice your onions. For this method you're probably still gonna cry, just not so much; because while using a very sharpened knife, the onions get chopped that much faster than before. So just chop chop chop till you're done!

• Hold a piece of bread in your mouth. Yup, you heard me 😄. Don't actually eat the bread, just hold it between your front teeth while you cut up your onion. The spongy nature of the bread will absorb the gas before it gets to your eyes. Works for me!

Anyone with any other ideas on how to cut an onion without the process becoming a sob fest? Leave your comments people, I'll be very much obliged to try them out. That said - happy Steeming.

Authored by @charm29.