Posted on 11/23/2017 6:23:54 PM PST by blam
If youve ever noticed a strange, not-entirely-pleasant scent coming from your urine after you eat asparagus, youre definitely not alone.
Distinguished thinkers as varied as Scottish mathematician and physician John Arbuthnot (who wrote in a 1731 book that asparagus affects the urine with a foetid smell) and Marcel Proust (who wrote how the vegetable transforms my chamber-pot into a flask of perfume) have commented on the phenomenon.
Even Benjamin Franklin took note, stating in a 1781 letter to the Royal Academy of Brussels that A few Stems of Asparagus eaten, shall give our Urine a disagreable Odour (he was trying to convince the academy to To discover some Drug that shall render the natural Discharges of Wind from our Bodies, not only inoffensive, but agreable as Perfumesa goal that, alas, modern science has still not achieved).
But modern science has, at least, shed some light on why this one particular vegetable has such an unusual and potent impact on the scent of urine. Scientists tell us that the asparagus-urine link all comes down to one chemical: asparagusic acid.
Asparagusic acid, as the name implies, is (to our knowledge) only found in asparagus. When our bodies digest the vegetable, they break down this chemical into a group of related sulfur-containing compounds with long, complicated names (including dimethyl sulfide, dimethyl disulfide, dimethyl sulfoxide and dimethyl sulfone). As with many other substances that include sulfursuch as garlic, skunk spray and odorized natural gasthese sulfur-containing molecules convey a powerful, typically unpleasant scent.
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(Excerpt) Read more at smithsonianmag.com ...
I was forced to eat the canned version as a kid and it made me vomit.
As an adult after I quit smoking I found I could enjoy a batch of freshly cut and cooked
Still brings back bad memories if it gets cold.
Now squash was the same. Force fed it when young. Still can’t stomach even the smell of summer squash even being cooked. YUK!
I cannot. Mine flattens out.
Of all the world’s vegetables, it’s the one I most dislike. However, and quite strangely, my cousin’s husband has a recipe for asparagus soup that’s truly superb. Don’t ask me why, it just is.
I love it raw or cooked. It supposedly is a good prebiotic if you eat it raw.
Soulmate! Cilantro tastes like Dawn! and you and I are the only ones to see it, it’s supplanted parsley with the remainder of mankind.
I detested asparagus as a child all the way into my twenties but love it now, so long as it’s not too overgrown. Like cucumbers there’s a definite pick-by date and you don’t want the great big ones. It does affect the urine, that’s not genetic. Being sensitive to the odor is genetic, it still smells odd regardless of whether or not you yourself can smell it.
I do have an odd food sensitivity that seems genetic, I can’t even get most fermented foods into my mouth. Kimchee literally causes me to recoil just from the scent of it. Even the wrong kind of vinegar in salad dressing does it. Tastes spoiled to me, gone sour. And, I can detect that far better than most people. Buttermilk? Forget it. Good in breads and cakes but I can’t handle anything with an obvious buttermilk taste. It’s nauseating.
Cilantro does taste like crap. Parsley, while a little bitter, is almost harmless.
Re Asparagus - Cook till tender and cover with good butter. That is good.
Now instead of saying “I cut the cheese”, do I have to say “I cut the asparagus”?
My dad grew it in his garden and didn't want to waste any so we had to eat the tough asparagus. I had no idea what tender, young asparagus tasted like.
The older larger asparagus spears have a much stronger flavor too, in addition to being tough.
My eating asparagus can make my bathroom smell like the inside of a dumpster two hours later when urinating.
DANG!
Thank goodness FR covered this! Must be a slow news day?
I was aware of asparagus and its lasting odor. B complex also lets us know weve had it.
I like to parboil them for a minute and a half, chill immediately in ice and water, drain and marinate for 6 hours in the fridge in Italian dressing, serve cold.
Sounds good. As I say, these were both pickled and spicy.
“you and I are the only ones to see it”
Not true. You can add me to your little club. Seems like everyone thinks cilantro is some exotic herb. Vile stuff.
It’s called, acquired taste, and in some dishes it adds a layer of flavor. Let your taste buds outta Da house, and party a little.
Must be government funded to be so concerned about and spending so much time on worthless things.
The Germans LOVE their spargel. There are many local festivals to celebrate the harvest where you can eat asparagus prepared in every way imaginable for about a week (a lot of the local restaurants serve special Spargel dishes in addition to the basics served at the fair grounds). It is estimated that 82,000 tons of Spargel are actually produced in Germany each year which only meets about 61% of consumption needs.
German spargel (white asparagus) is no different than regular asparagus, expect that it is grown underground in little mounds. Therefore, no photosynthesis occurs, keeping the stalks from turning green. The white variation has a slightly milder, sweeter flavor. Green asparagus is usually best when picked early, because it will get every woody and tough. White asparagus, on the other hand, can be grown for a while and the thickness has no impact on the tenderness, but white asparagus should always be peeled before you prepare it. Never snap white asparagus lite you do the green trim any woody ends off instead. Youll waste far too much Spargel with the snap method.
Yes, the genes determine whether you can smell the compounds in your urine or whether you cant. The urine still contains these compounds after eating asparagus, but some people have the gene where you cannot smell it. My daughter unbeknownst to her has that gene. Poor thing will never be able to smell asparagus in her toilet. ;). Send money now, lol.
And I feel sorry f9r those with the gene that makes cilantro taste like soap. Its really good.
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