Ahh asparagus. I love asparagus. I love that it is in season just as spring is coming on. (Spring is my favorite time of year.) Since I just posted an asparagus recipe, and I am about to post another, I thought I might share an asparagus related memory. Six years ago I was at a cooking class for our church’s women’s organization and brought up the question as to why eating asparagus made urine smell different-as in worse. Some of the ladies there had never smelled the smell before and actually didn’t know what I was talking about. One lady, who truly is a kindred spirit sent me an article explaining this phenomenon.
From webmd:
Q: I’ve noticed that when I eat asparagus, my urine has a funny smell. Is that normal?
A: It’s totally normal. In fact, the effect of asparagus on urine odor has been observed for centuries. French novelist Marcel Proust famously wrote in 1913 that asparagus “transforms my chamber-pot into a flask of perfume.” And one British men’s club is said to have put up a sign reading, “During the asparagus season, members are requested not to relieve themselves in the hat stand.”
Depending on which study you read, between 22% and 50% of the population report having pungent pee after eating asparagus. But that doesn’t mean only some people’s bodies generate that smell. Researchers believe that, during digestion, the vegetable’s sulfurous amino acids break down into smelly chemical components in all people. And because those components are “volatile,” meaning airborne, the odor wafts upward as the urine leaves the body and can be detected as soon as 15 minutes after you eat this spring delicacy.
But only about one-quarter of the population appears to have the special gene that allows them to smell those compounds. So the issue isn’t whether or not your pee is smelly; it’s whether you’re able to smell it. If you smell a funny fragrance in your urine after you eat asparagus, you’re not only normal, you have a good nose.
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