Life hack: Easy trick to stop tears while cutting onions

Have you ever found yourself preparing a lovely meal and one of the first instructions is to cut, slice or dice an onion? With a sense of dread you know that tears are only a few knife strokes away. If you are sick of tearing up during cooking, then try this trick. All you need is to pop a piece of chewing gum in your mouth right before you start preparing the onion. Continue chewing on the gum during the process and you should be tear free.

Tears don’t actually come from our eyes themselves. They are formed in small glands located next to the eyes and when irritated these glands produce tears. When you cut an onion, natural chemicals are released into the air and this is what irritates your eyes causing you to tear up when you are cutting your onion. By chewing on gum you are forcing yourself to breath through your mouth and this decreases the amount of chemicals that reach your eyes.