This is not a pee joke (asparagus causing urine odor)

[jim mcnamara]

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt...ee?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr

Are you able to detect the smell? I can.

 

[dkotschessaa]

Interesting, and yes. I am glad we are discovering the cause. Next step: genetically modified non-stink-pee asparagus.

 

[jackwhirl]

I can. I learned I wasn't weird for it earlier this year thanks to MinuteEarth.

 

[BillTre]

Asparagus always reminded me of beta mercaptoethanol.
After I first smelled it (beta mercaptoethanol) in a molecular biology lab.

 

[Andy Resnick]

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt...ee?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr

Are you able to detect the smell? I can.

Interesting article, but the BMJ article seems to emphasize anosmia, not metabolism- that is to say, the ability to smell the compounds, not the ability to create the compounds.

 

[jim mcnamara]

@Andy Resnick - yup - thought I said smell.

 

[Student100]

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt...ee?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=storiesfromnpr

Are you able to detect the smell? I can.

I surprised about all the hate it gets in the article, I think it smells good. Like rainbows.

 

[Fervent Freyja]

I'm not sure if I can or not, I don't cook it very often and haven't paid any attention to it. There doesn't have to be a genetic basis to the phenomenon, like the article noted. It really doesn't surprise me, the scent of other bodily fluids can be altered by food as well... The foods we consume are digested by the body and carried through the bloodstream to various glands and tissues, including sweat glands, the prostate and seminal vesicle (where seminal fluid is created) and the Skene's glands and vaginal wall (where vaginal lubrication is created.) The smell and taste of food molecules we ingest can be released through the secretions produced by these glands and tissues, resulting in a noticeable difference in our body fragrance and flavor.

 

[Andy Resnick]

@Andy Resnick - yup - thought I said smell.

I wonder if the test subjects had to smell someone else's pee...

 

[dkotschessaa]

I surprised about all the hate it gets in the article, I think it smells good. Like rainbows.