Secret Weapons in Asparagus

Greetings and Salutations, foodies and the like,

            I would like to bring to the attention of all my readers the value of asparagus. In my life, this has been the one vegetable that has claimed both the most hated and most loved title in my life (of course at different times.)

            Fact number 1 about this particular superfood, which by the way currently holds the most-loved title in my life as far as vegetables are concerned, is that it distinctly affects the smell of urine in all who consume it. Some say it smells like eggs, some say fish oil. Personally, I think it smells like rotting cabbage, but the point I am trying to make is that it is a strong smell. Why, may you ask, does such a tasty vegetable carry with it such an “aftertaste” in the hours after you eat it?

            Prepare for your daily science lesson, pupils. In the next couple hundred words, I will make my best attempt at conveying the particulars of the biological chemical reaction that occurs in the human body during the digestion of asparagus so that all you citizens of cyberland will have something to chew on while eating your next asparagus-containing meal.

            Basically, This pungent result all boils down to genetics. Specifically, two separate and unrelated genes- one that causes the odor and one that senses it.

            A study conducted by St. Mary’s Hospital Medical school in London and the University of Birmingham in Birmingham, England, in 1987 concluded that the odor is produced by the compound methanethiol, which contains sulfur. Whether or not the urine will contain this compound depends on the presence of a dominant gene in your body that will break down the asparagus in a certain way, creating this compound.

            If you do not smell the rotting cabbage odor after asparagus, you may still be producing methanethiol, but you may lack the gene to sense it.

            The study showed 43 percent of subjects producing and sensing methanethiol, with almost half being male and half being female.

            The chance of being both a producer and a detector is 50%.

            So there it is, excuse me for my potty subject matter, but the first time I smelled this, it literally scared the piss out of me (excuse the lame joke).

            There you go, thanks for reading, and have a good week!

-Cameron