Onions, leeks, chives, shallots and garlic are vegetables that come from the allium family. Cut into an onion and you might sprout tears. As you slice, an irritating chemical mists into the air and can settle in tear ducts. Garlic does not create tears, but it has the strongest flavor of the allium bunch.

Why does garlic make me cry?

The original culprit is alliinase, an enzyme also found in garlic. However, most of us know that garlic does not make us cry the same way onions do. ... Onions carry two chemicals: syn-Propanethial-S-oxide, an irritant that stimulates the eyes' lacrimal glands, which release tears; and lachrymatory-factor synthase.

Can garlic make your eyes water?

Onions, garlic, shallot, and leak are all quite closely related. It's the same effect you're experiencing. People vary a bit in how sensitive they are to it. If you're not aware, it comes from the knife rupturing cells, releasing a sulfuric vapor compound that combines with your tears to irritate the eye.