why does asparagus make your pee smell funny?

leftofthedial

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Sat Dec-24-05 01:48 PM
Original message

why does asparagus make your pee smell funny?

or am I dying?

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TK421

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Sat Dec-24-05 01:51 PM
Response to Original message

1. You're probably dying...what made you smell your pee after eating

asparagus? I'll have to check it out

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leftofthedial

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Sat Dec-24-05 11:05 PM
Response to Reply #1

13. oh my god

another christmas eve in the emergency room, waiting to die

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bicentennial_baby

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Sat Dec-24-05 01:52 PM
Response to Original message

2. i've always wondered this

i'm assuming it's a chemical reaction, possibly nvolving the chemical compunds in the asparagus and its exposure to O2 once it hits the air. :shrug:

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leftofthedial

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Sat Dec-24-05 11:06 PM
Response to Reply #2

14. I think there is an intelligent asparagus pee smell designer

who makes that smell every time your bladder opens up after eating asparagus

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CarpeDiebold

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Sat Dec-24-05 01:54 PM
Response to Original message

3. ...

"Asparagus is filled with sulfur-containing amino acids that break down during digestion into six sulfur-containing compounds. These can impart a unique smell to urine as they are excreted. "It's the same sulfur group that makes skunks smell," said Barbara Hodges, a dietician with Boston University's nutrition clinic, the Evans Nutrition Group."

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

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Misunderestimator

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Sat Dec-24-05 01:59 PM
Response to Reply #3

5. The amino acid Asparagine:

A Natural Diuretic

Asparagus is a very good source of potassium (288 mg per cup) and quite low in sodium (19.8 mg per cup. Its mineral profile, combined with an active amino acid in asparagus, asparagine, gives asparagus a strong diuretic effect. Asparagine is also responsible for the strong odor often produced in the urine after asparagus is eaten--a harmless and temporary effect. Historically, asparagus has been used to treat problems involving swelling, such as arthritis and rheumatism, and may also be useful for PMS-related water retention.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=12

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CarpeDiebold

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Sat Dec-24-05 02:04 PM
Response to Reply #5

8. somethins is amiss here

if asparagine is the main a.a. in asparagus, the first article has to be wrong. asparagine doesn't have any sulfur groups....

if the first article is right, then the amino acids that cause the odor have to be either methionine or cysteine(the only two amino acids with sulfur, that i can remember...) so the second article would have to be worng...

this is why the internet is a bad place...totally conflicting information.

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Misunderestimator

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Sat Dec-24-05 02:06 PM
Response to Reply #8

9. Yes, I also found some sites that indicate that it's a combination

Edited on Sat Dec-24-05 02:06 PM by Misunderestimator

of those amino acids AND the amino acid asparagine. But most of the sites I found do at least mention asparagine. :shrug:

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CarpeDiebold

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Sat Dec-24-05 02:11 PM
Response to Reply #9

10. OK this answer satisfies me somewhat

Most authorities feel that the compound that causes the odor in urine after consumption of asparagus is methylmercaptan, which is a sulfur-containing derivative of the amino acid, methionine. This is disputed by a few individuals who claim that the odiferous compound is asparagine-amino-succinic-acid monoamide, which is derived from the amino acid, asparagine. In either case, the product is formed as a derivative during the digestion and subsequent breakdown of beneficial amino acids that occur naturally in asparagus.

http://www.asparagus.com/maab/faq.html

meh, the site claims this info is from the merck manual...which i trust.

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eyepaddle

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Sat Dec-24-05 11:12 PM
Response to Reply #10

18. Well, if methylmercaptan does form as a result

digestion, that'd certainly cause a smell. Interestingly enough methylmercaptan is the stinker-upper chemical dissolved in natural gas to allow for easy leak detection.

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leftofthedial

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Sat Dec-24-05 11:07 PM
Response to Reply #3

15. typical liberal scientific claptrap

you have to *believe* that for it to be true

I think the intelligent asparagus pee smell designer does it bless its name

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GalleryGod

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Sat Dec-24-05 01:58 PM
Response to Original message

4. Thanks for the Query, Left ! And the answer Carp !

You guys :yourock:

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leftofthedial

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Sat Dec-24-05 11:08 PM
Response to Reply #4

16. you mean I'm not dying?

whew!

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Puglover

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Sat Dec-24-05 02:00 PM
Response to Original message

6. Last spring I had munched down a bunch of the stuff at work

I went to pee and was standing at the urinal next to another guy.....LOL...the look that man gave me was priceless.

:rofl:

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XemaSab

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Sat Dec-24-05 02:02 PM
Response to Reply #6

7. This is a whole life experience that women miss out on

However, men miss out on menstruating....

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CaliforniaPeggy

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Sat Dec-24-05 02:33 PM
Response to Reply #7

11. After hearing us talk about that, my dear XemaSab.......

I very much doubt that they miss it!

:hi:

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XemaSab

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Sat Dec-24-05 03:12 PM
Response to Reply #11

12. Oh, I dunno

I don't think men can possibly conceptualize the horror! :scared:

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leftofthedial

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Sat Dec-24-05 11:09 PM
Response to Reply #7

17. you mean women don't eat asparagus?

or women don't pee?

:shrug:

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XemaSab

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Sun Dec-25-05 01:27 AM
Response to Reply #17

20. Men don't have

a river of red fluid gushing from between their thighs for a week out of the month. :P

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leftofthedial

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Sun Dec-25-05 01:57 AM
Response to Reply #20

21. well, maybe after a *real* hard night

Edited on Sun Dec-25-05 01:57 AM by leftofthedial

but not once a month

what do women talk about when tey're standing side by side at the urinals?

:7

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XemaSab

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Sun Dec-25-05 02:00 AM
Response to Reply #21

22. Women don't talk in the bathroom stalls

Women ignore each other. :(

What do men talk about?

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leftofthedial

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Sun Dec-25-05 02:25 AM
Response to Reply #22

23. sports

women

or lame bathroom humor

anything else ist verboten

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XemaSab

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Sun Dec-25-05 02:32 AM
Response to Reply #23

24. I see...

so it's not the place for say, compliments or personal questions?

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leftofthedial

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Sun Dec-25-05 02:33 AM
Response to Reply #24

25. if you even glance over there,

you could get your ass kicked

or whatever

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purr

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Sat Dec-24-05 11:22 PM
Response to Original message

19. I LOVE asparagus!!

I like mine with sea salt and olive oil baked in the oven. MMM.. If I'm just making some for me I'll do a little batch in the toaster oven.

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Porcupine

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Sun Dec-25-05 04:50 AM
Response to Original message

26. "I didn't EAT asparagus"- future name of my boat. but seriously......

Discover online covers this topic in detail.
http://www.discovery.com/area/skinnyon/skinnyon970115/skinny1.html

Early investigators thought genetics had divided the world into stinkers and nonstinkers. That was until 1980, when three researchers had the presence of mind to wave pee from the nonstinkers under the noses of the stinkers.
Lo and behold, the problem proved to be one not of producing the stinky pee but of being able to sniff it out.

If you've been deprived of this gift, don't give up hope. To increase the concentration of methanethiol molecules available to your snoot, you could either intentionally dehydrate yourself before you dine (this is unhealthful); or pee into a cup and sniff that. Or eat three and a half pounds of asparagus for lunch.

So, It's unintelligent design. You can stink up a place by eating asparagus and never know it.

"I didn't eat corn"- that'll be my other boat.

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