Have you ever had this experience: you go out for dinner and eat a nice meal that includes asparagus. Upon arriving home you have to go to the bathroom, and you immediately notice that your urine has an extremely distinct, pungent smell - some have described it as musty, or like rotten eggs. Well, have no fear - you're in good company. And nothing is wrong with you. It appears scientists have been trying to answer this question for centuries: why does asparagus make my pee smell funny?
"The website WebMD blames this smell on the break-up of a chemical called mercaptan. That said, asparagus contains a half-dozen sulfur-based chemicals identical ones found in other such lovely smells as rotten eggs, garlic breath and skunk spray. There is some controversy in the scientific community over exactly which by-product, or combination of by-products, causes the asparagus urine smell. The first published study on the phenomenon, written in 1891 by a man going by the name of Nencki, found that the smell was caused by a metabolite called methanethiol. So far, this conclusion seems about as sound as any." (Click here to read the whole article.)
Another interesting fact is that scientists have discovered not everyone notices or even experiences the smelly pee phenomenon. It seems to be somewhat of a genetic trait - those of us who CAN spell it must be special, right?
Regardless, asparagus is a vegetable chock full of nutrients like vitamins A, B and C, as well as fiber; it is very good for you. If you are like me and your urine smells after eating it, have no fear: it is not harming you in any way, and there's nothing wrong with you. So eat on!
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Posted by: Chilton | May 11, 2009 at 03:10 PM
makes my pee smell atrocious!
Posted by: alex mclean | September 22, 2007 at 12:44 AM
Jody, my roommate is very much the same as you - in fact, my DVR is currently loaded full of "Survivorman" episodes thanks to him... :)
Posted by: Jeremy | September 18, 2007 at 09:13 AM
i've never noticed this after eating asparagus! *good thing!*
Posted by: kathryn | September 17, 2007 at 10:34 PM
YES!!!!! i'm one of the chosen elite!!!
Posted by: Aaron Ivey | September 17, 2007 at 02:01 PM
Ah, I go into the caffeteria at work today and find asperagus on the menu. Yummy!
Posted by: euphrony | September 17, 2007 at 02:00 PM
Whoa creepy, my boyfriend and I were talking about this just this week! How random. I'd never heard of this phenom, probably because I don't really 'do' asparagus.
((And yes, we do have weird topics of conversation, thanks to all you who were asking. haha))
Posted by: marcia! | September 17, 2007 at 12:25 PM
Alan, if you desire some reading containing tales of urine drinking, check out "Skeletons on the Zahara" by Dean King. It's a tale of American sailors shipwrecked in Africa and captured by Sahrawi Arabs.
Also, "Surviorman" is a better show as Les Stroud is out there by himself unlike the other show where the guy has a crew with him and has a tendency to stay in hotels at night.
Posted by: Jody | September 17, 2007 at 11:43 AM
Alan, thanks - I think! - for chiming in. I knew that guy was crazy (my roommate talks about the show a lot) but I hadn't heard that yet. But I guess you're right - anything to stay alive for the next episode, I always say... ;)
Nancy, I've honestly been meaning to blog about this for a while. Every time I eat asparagus I think, "I need to blog about this!" and I just finally got around to it. Just checking things off my to-blog list!
Posted by: Jeremy | September 17, 2007 at 11:09 AM
was it a slow day at work? : )
Posted by: nancy | September 17, 2007 at 10:55 AM
I know there can be different variations in the color of urine after eating certain things, but in all honesty I've never really paid that much attention to the difference in scent. It has always smelled bad to me.
Until I watched a show on The Discovery Channel called "Man vs. Wild", I never knew fresh urine could actually be good for you because of all the nutrients in it. The key word there being "fresh". The guy on this show actually drank his own on cable TV. I guess if you're trying to survive, you'll try just about anything.
Posted by: Alan | September 17, 2007 at 10:15 AM
I also hear that different people have genetic traits that make them perceive B.O. differently. Some people smell it and find it unpleasant. Some find the odor tolerable. Some cannot even smell it. It seems the same it true for skunk smell, as well.
Imagine that: some people actually find the smell of a skunk enjoyable!
Posted by: euphrony | September 17, 2007 at 08:37 AM