WHOA, WHAT’S THAT SMELL?

WRITER: FRED HILTON

It may have happened to you. You’ve enjoyed a nice dinner, maybe a juicy steak, a loaded baked potato, and a side of fresh asparagus. Soon afterward, nature calls. You go to the bathroom and suddenly a foul odor rises up and fills the room. You blame it on the asparagus, but you’re not sure why.

It’s not the fault of modernday chemicals and additives. Asparagus has been stinking up bathrooms for centuries. According to Smithsonian magazine, Benjamin Franklin noted in a 1781 letter to the Royal Academy of Brussels that “A few Stems of Asparagus eaten shall give our Urine a disagreable Odour.” Franklin was trying to convince the academy to discover a drug that would make passed gas “not only inoffensive, but agreable as Perfumes.” That goal, sadly, has still not been achieved.

French novelist Marcel Proust also commented on asparagus’ effect on urine. He wrote that the vegetable “transforms my chamber-pot sels sparar Urine Frankce the d gas ut That been el on ne. able er-pot into a flask of perfume.” u ey as th s ur s t n o sub r, th y a p ant s he Hu h She Princd rfume.” sparag ar as s y foun n our , it’s p of com su po sce u sh st at t P oupp, said, igeest s s foo iffeere r nt ugh h the matic In its com relea rok elat bsta he por through the urine. That’s the aroma you smell when the compound exits your body.” lack the ability to smell it.

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The culprit is asparagusic acid, which, as far as scientists know, is only found in asparagus. When our bodies digest asparagus, it’s broken down into a group of related sulfur-containing compounds. Like many other substances that contain sulfur, these molecules convey a powerful, typically unpleasant scent.

According to the Huffington Post, Dr. Anish Sheth, a gastroenterologist at Princeton Medical Group, said, “As your body digests food, it breaks down different compounds through the enzymatic process. In the case of asparagus, its compounds are volatile and released as a va- ffifinggeth, a c b f re mp oodd, t e ennzyzyase e of f nds arre e a vaa- aroma yo mpound e We e don’t a bu clusion w ply y don’t usuual whe ing n aspar ry widely ge e o of tho h se ot, smell the Sccieentists t are maany ut others do somme e peop uce e t aro whheen d por the coom W g guus s coonc n s simp m un u u ea eati t v var a ag no n S m bu is s d du w

We don’t all smell “asparagus pee,” but there’s no clear conclusion why. Some of us simply don’t smell anything unusual when urinating after eating asparagus. Estimates vary widely on the percentage of those who do, and do not, smell the asparagus odor. Scientists aren’t sure why many people smell the odor but others don’t. One opinion is some people don’t produce the aroma in their urine when they digest asparagus.

“The digestive process is pretty constant from person to person, but a person’s ability to detect these odors varies,” Sheth said. “We all have our own idiosyncratic smell perception of the world,”

We may not be sure why some people can’t smell the odor asparagus creates but we do know asparagusic acid is the cause. It is clearly the No. 1 reason for funky “number one” smells.

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Why Asparagus Makes Your Urine Smell,” by Joseph Stromberg, Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian.con, May 3, 2013 http://www.smithsonianmag.com/sciencenature/why-asparagus-makes-your-urine-smell49961252/?no-ist

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Why Your Pee Smells Funny After Easting Asparagus,” by Carolyn O’Neil, MS, RD, reviews by Michael W. Smith, MD, WebMD, July 1, 2010 http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/why-peesmells-funny-eat-asparagus

Asparagus Pee Is Real, But Only Some Of Us Can Smell It,” by Kate Bratskeir, The Huffington Post, October 31, 2014 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/31/ asparagus-pee_n_6077006.html

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Why Does Asparagus Make Pee Smell Funny?” by Sharon Tanenbaum, Senior Editor, EverydayHealth.com, January 11, 2012 http://www.everydayhealth.com/healthyliving/0111/why-does-asparagus-make-pee-smellfunny.aspx

Why does asparagus make some people’s urine smell but not others?” by Duane Mellor, The Independent, October 6, 2015 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/whydoes-asparagus-make-some-peoples-urine-smellbut-not-others-a6683661.html

Why Do EverydayH http://ww living/011 funny.asp do sm Independ http://ww does-asp but-not-o