Asparagus Pee

[InfiniteNow]

Yes, you've read the thread subject/title correctly. I'm going there (while I'm not the first to do so on Hypography, the other time this question was posed it did not receive a full answer).

 

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/43/1671_51089

Asparagus contains a sulfur compound called mercaptan. (It's also found in rotten eggs, onions, garlic, and in the secretions of skunks.) When your digestive tract breaks down this substance, by-products are released that cause the funny scent. The process is so quick that your urine can develop the distinctive smell within 15 to 30 minutes of eating asparagus.

 

 

Interestingly though, not everyone breaks it down the same way, and not everyone can smell it when they do...

 

Only some people appear to have the gene for the enzyme that breaks down mercaptan into its more pungent parts.

 

The ability to smell the by-products may also be genetic.

 

 

So what about you? (I kept it confidential, but I can see this being a fun conversation to have)...

 

I know the chemistry side of this, but it's still strange? Can you imagine if you ate apple pie and your pee smelled like cinnamon? :)

 

 

Cheers. :)

[Michaelangelica]

It is VERY complex look here for starters

http://www.studentbmj.com/back_issues/0800/education/277.html

You should know, you're a medic: Why does urine smell odd after eating asparagus?

 

In the 18th century, a physician to the French royal family wrote in his Treatise on all sorts of foods that asparagus "eaten to Excess... causes filthy and disagreeable Smell in the Urine."2 The smell cannot be noticed in raw or cooked asparagus, so it is believed that the body converts a compound within asparagus into a metabolite, which can then be smelled in the urine. The odour is often described as the smell of rotten or boiling cabbage, or even ammonia, and is believed to be due to the presence of methyl mercaptan, also known as methanethiol, which is a sulphur containing derivative of the amino acid methionine.3

 

The mechanism

 

Allison and McWhirter first showed that the ability to produce methyl mercaptan after eating asparagus is not universal.4 Some people would produce detectable amounts in the urine after eating only three or four spears of asparagus, while others would produce none even after eating as much as one pound (0.45 kg) of asparagus.

and here

http://www.drdaveanddee.com/asparagus.html

and here

http://www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/band124/b124-7.html

Asparagusic acid is the culprit, or alpha-aminodimethyl-gamma-butyrothetin for those of chemical mind. It is found in asparagus, and a few other food plants, though some non-food plants like tropical mangrove also contain it. The other interesting thing about asparagusic acid, other than being the chemical that probably makes urine smell after eating asparagus, is that it is kills parasitic nematodes, and protects the asparagus plant against them.

 

But the asparagus and smelly urine problem is more complicated. Not all of us can actually smell the smell in urine if it is there. The frequency of this inability to smell the odour is high, and tests have shown that 90% of an Israeli population and 75% of a Chinese population have anosmia (inability to smell). There is another proportion of the population with a degree of hyposmia, in which the smell is not distinct and can be confused with other smells.

and here

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/43/1671_51089

Eau D'Asparagus

 

I love asparagus, but I notice it makes my urine smell funny. What's going on?

By Elizabeth Somer, MA,RD

 

Aug. 14, 2000 -- You may have heard the tall tale that "asparagus urine" is linked to higher intelligence. In fact, it's the result of a simple chemical reaction. Asparagus contains a sulfur compound called mercaptan. (It's also found in rotten eggs, onions, garlic, and in the secretions of skunks.) When your digestive tract breaks down this substance, by-products are released that cause the funny scent. The process is so quick that your urine can develop the distinctive smell within 15 to 30 minutes of eating asparagus.

 

But not everyone has this experience. Your genetic makeup may determine whether your urine has the odor -- or whether you can actually smell it.

Facinating stuff.

Pehaps a bit like phenalanine?sp? some can taste it some can't

[Mercedes Benzene]

I don't eat asparagus often... but when I do, my urine does not exhibit any special odor. :D

[Jay-qu]

I love asparagus, I do notice it but not very prominantly - my body must not have much mercaptan breaking ability :D

[InfiniteNow]

Come on... only 4 votes?

[infamous]

Come on... only 4 votes?

OK, then I'll add my two cents. Some may think me strange, actually most who know me do, but I detect odors reminiscent of items eaten in my last meal everytime I urinate. Go figure

..................Infy

[learnin to learn]

hmmmmmm... OK I WILL DO IT! i will try the experiment! for one whole day I am going to eat asparagus! lets see if I get a scent or not! :shrug:

[Tormod]

I smell it, loud and clear. :shrug: Those are fine momens for a young stud like myself.

[Jay-qu]

I ate it the night before last, to no effect at all :shrug:

[Michaelangelica]

Asparagus

What a good idea

I have some crisp pickled asparagus in the pantry

Yum

(Applications to smell my pee need to be submitted on Form 'Ap2341', in triplicate)

[Chacmool]

:shrug: InfiniteNow, I cannot believe you actually asked such a question! Of course, I am a lady, so I don't even pee at all (and if I did, it would ALWAYS smell like lavender).

[InfiniteNow]

Of course, I am a lady, so I don't even pee at all (and if I did, it would ALWAYS smell like lavender).

You are one rockin' lady indeed, Chac... :shrug:

 

 

I am curious if there is a difference between fresh asparagus and canned asparagus? Anyone care to sign up for the experiment and report back? :hihi:

[learnin to learn]

I'll sign on!:) I'm always ready to try out a new experiment! but we need at least 2 or three people so that we can test our results!:D

[InfiniteNow]

Okay, sounds good. Here's the plan. Get a sheet of paper, and create rows and columns.

 

Each row should be a date, so you can repeat the experiment a few times and get some more solid data.

 

One column should be type (fresh or canned)

The next column should be scent rating (maybe a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is not at all and 5 is extremely potent)

 

If any other testers do the same, at least the data will be normalized.

 

 

I'm going to see about grilling up some asparagus myself this weekend... Hmmmm... grilled asparagus. Just a splash of good olive oil and some salt and pepper and right on the grill over some charcoal... Oh yeah, baby, it's the weekend. :)

 

 

Cheers. :asparagusjuice:

[Celeste]

I was on board with Char on the "lady" point, but I got to thinking about this topic being a big one with my whole family just recently.

So...for the sake of science :) here's some results.

 

Self: No smell

BF: Hates asparagus, but has noticed it in the past.

Brothers: Asparagus Pee all the way

Both Sister in laws: No smell

Dad: Definetly a difference.

Mom: No smell

Daughter: No smell

Daughters Fiance: Asparagus x10

 

So....what is it...just a man thing? Maybe women don't produce enough enzymes to produce mercaptan??? Or is it that women can't smell it???

[infamous]

 

So....what is it...just a man thing? Maybe women don't produce enough enzymes to produce mercaptan??? Or is it that women can't smell it???

Personally, I would choose the former for the simple fact that; In my estimation, by and large, the fair sex has the superior sense of smell. I suspect the reason for this advantage might be a result of the occupational hazards that many males face in the work place. Working around solvents and other volatile chemicals would have a debilitating effect upon the olfactory nerves. This ofcourse is just a generalization, and on a case by case bases, differences in these results will certainly appear.............Infy

[Mercedes Benzene]

I asked my mom to make asparagus tonight, just so I could see what would happen to the smell of my urine. So far, it has been 3 hours. I have urinated twice, and I did not notice a change in smell either time.

Perhaps it is because I drink a lot of water? Perhaps the water dilutes it, but I definitely did not notice any abnormal smells. :)

 

One thing I have noticed in the past was a slight onion smell in urine about a day after eating a bunch of onion rings. Strange. :D