When preparing a meal for a room full of guests, you may want to choose another vegetable.
By Kevin RR Williams
Asparagus is Unfriendly
There are reasons why asparagus will not be a crowd pleaser. We assume every human body functions pretty much the same. They don’t always do so. Sometimes things happen we cannot easily explain. Take biochemical reactions to certain vegetables.
Some individuals notice a putrid smell during urination after they ingest vegetables within the brassica family. A subset of men and women have something called trimethylaminuria.
This condition interferes with the breakdown of a chemical called trimethylamine in choline-rich foods like asparagus or cauliflower (47 mg/cup), broccoli (30 mg), Brussels sprouts (17 mg) and cabbage (7.5 mg).
But what about people who only have a fetid reaction to asparagus? It turns out there is a chemical unique to this vegetable, fittingly called asparagusic acid.
Studies are inconclusive because some participants notice their own foul urine, while some smell it in others but not themselves. Remaining individuals have no idea why we are even talking about this.
This is not a wholesale disparagement of the vegetable. The nutrition within asparagus is undeniable. Compounds in asparagus root called steroidal glycosides may help reduce inflammation.
Asparagus also contains calcium, magnesium, and iodine. It is an excellent source of folic acid, vitamins A, C and E.
Malodorous After Party
Scientists investigating this olfactory phenomenon believe that some people convert asparagusic acid into a sulfur compound similar to rotten eggs with other pungent notes.
Only about one-quarter of the population appears to have the special gene that allows them to smell the sulfuric compounds emitted by nearly everyone else. This can be awkward. You may be the individual unknowingly stinking up the dinner party. It is not harmful, just off-putting.
If your urine is smelly after eating asparagus, you are not alone. What you or others smell is paradoxically common and unnatural. So when preparing a meal for a room full of guests, err on the side of caution. Choose a vegetable other than asparagus. Or stock up on bathroom air freshener.
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