What happens when you eat onions?

      Onions are not everyone’s favorite root vegetable, because of the smell. In addition to needing to inhale (immediately) after you eat onions, there are several other effects of eating this vegetable. However, onions can provide your body with some significant benefits that you don’t want to overlook.

Here are 5 things that can happen to your body when you eat onions, according to Eat This, Not That!

1. You may feel bloated.

Those chopped fresh onions add a bit of sweetness to your meatloaf, as well as some healthy antioxidants.

2. You may have acid reflux.

Do you ever put onions in your roasting pan? You can gobble up some of these sweet, bite-sized pieces of onion if you want in just one sitting. However, the consequences can be discouraging. In addition to gastrointestinal discomfort, you may experience heartburn, also known as acid reflux.

3. Eye stinging when you chop .

When you chop an onion, it’s easy for your eyes to sting. As it turns out, the reason onions can make you “cry” is because when you cut them, they release a chemical called stimulant factor (LF) – essentially a gas.

Claudia Sidoti, Chef and Head of Recipe Development at HelloFresh (USA), says the key to cutting an onion without “crying” is to first soak the onion in water. Then, remember to use a sharp knife to cut.

“A sharper knife causes less damage to cell walls, allowing less irritants to be secreted,” says Ms. Sidoti.

4. Improve gut health.

Probiotics are essential for good gut health, but did you know that probiotics can’t be fully effective without the presence of a prebiotic?

Onions are quite rich in prebiotics, which is a type of fiber found in many fruits, vegetables, and whole grains that your body can’t digest. Instead, they travel to your lower digestive tract and create an environment for healthy gut bacteria (such as probiotics) to thrive.

Remember, probiotics are important for healthy digestion and can even help improve immune function, so it’s important to have probiotics in your gut.

5. May support heart health.

Onions are packed with antioxidants, and red onions in particular are rich in substances called anthocyanins, which have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease in some studies.

For example, of the 93,600 women observed in a 2013 study, those who ate the most anthocyanins-rich foods had a 32% lower risk of heart attack than those who ate the least or none.