I love asparagus, and it's incredibly good for you — full of vitamin K, plus A and C and folate. But if you've ever eaten a lot of it, you might have noticed a rather odd side effect. There's really no delicate way to say this, so I'll just come right out with it: Eating asparagus can make your pee smell funny.
It doesn't happen to everyone, but if it happens to you, don't worry: The effect is totally harmless. The odor is merely a byproduct of digesting the veggie. According to WebMD, a compound called mercaptan, present in the green stalks, causes the ammonia- or sulfur-like smell to be released.
It is estimated that 40 to 50 percent of people experience this effect from asparagus; it's all a matter of genetics. If you've never noticed it, you may be immune, or you may simply be unable to smell it. The odor could appear the next day or in a matter of minutes. But aside from the obvious unpleasantness, the aroma of asparagus is nothing to be concerned about. Now aren't you glad we had this little chat?
Lepel
Nuovegioie
Earnest Sewn
How interesting!
1Was always wondering why that was..........
2So funny because Lynn Rosetto Casper on NPR was just talking about this on Sunday. I never noticed the smell but have always heard it exists. Since I LOOOOOOVE asparagus so much, I'm really glad I seem to be immune!
3ack! Evvvveeeerrry time you guys talk about asparagus piss it makes me hold my breath. I can't stand reading about that crap on here.
4EVERYONE i know says that to me when they see that i'm eating it - i LOVE asparagus - and i don't usually find that my pee smells any different than usual. it's also a laxative - so there's a lot that it does to your system
5Yeah, I read an essay on this (when I googled it to see what the deal was)... it said that everyone's pee smells when they eat asparagus, but that not everyone can smell it. How strange!! I know that when I eat it, it only takes like 10 minutes for the smell to appear. I don't understand how it gets there that fast!!!
6Hahaa. I dont know if you can have varying degrees of this, but my pee smells funny only a little, and I have to eat a lot of asparagus to notice it!
But yeah, people who's pee smells funny are lacking the enzyme asparaginase, which breaks down the the amino acid asparagine. Yeah, can you guess where asparagus got its name?!
Mmmm, asparagus and butter...
7I never had this issue with asparagus (or at least I do not notice any sulfur scent.) Although when I take my liquid vitamin (something-something Source of Life) pee gives off mineral scent. So weird until you get used to that,lol.
8Actually, taratootie, asparagine got its name from asparagus! It was first isolated in asparagus and was determined to be the cause of the weird smell in urine after it's been eaten. You're right about the asparginase thing though...if your body makes asparginase, you probably won't have weird-smelling pee. I think some people make only a little asparginase though...I know that MY pee smells a little off after I've eaten asparagus, but it's definitely not as bad as other people's. (I'm a microbiologist; I deal with people's pee all day long and I've run across all SORTS of asparagus-pee, among other lovely aromas, lol)
9Spectra you caught me! LOL. I guess I lost track of all the asparag____s, hehe. I knew that, I swear. Its even worse b/c I am a microbiologist too (though not clinical/CLS based)!!! I guess it shows me what I get for procrastinating on Yumsugar when I am supposed to be working on a paper! Okay... well I guess I should get back to my real work now.
*Hoping I didnt mess anything up on this post b/c I am working on said paper again... kind of. Meh, back to malaria...
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