Asparagus Makes Your Urine Smell

My kids hate foods that come in green.  Vegetables are number one on their list. My wife on the other hand loves asparagus.  There is a side effect in eating asparagus, it makes your pee smell. Why? Ever hear of  asparagusic acid?  This is the only veggie that will your pee stink.

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 sulfur—such as garlic, skunk spray and odorized natural gas—these sulfur-containing molecules convey a powerful, typically unpleasant scent.

A perennial, asparagus are spear-like shoots that come in three main varieties: green, the most common; white, for which the green variety is field blanched; and purple, an extra sweet and tender variety that turns green when cooked.

Tony M.

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