I Had Questions

Some time in my mid to late 20s, a decade ago, I started to learn to eat a greater variety of vegetables. Peppers in all colors were one of the first things I found a taste for followed by tomatoes (I know, I know, fruit right?). Other, greener things started to come as time went along.

I still don't eat enough of it, but these days I like most common vegetables you come across although I still can't stand green peas and have a very limited tolerance for green beans.

I remember when I learned to like asparagus. I'd never had it but I was on a weekend business meeting in Miami and we went to a steak house, a Shula's if I remember correctly. Everyone ordered their steak and we got a couple orders of vegetables for the table. Asparagus was one of the vegetables ordered. I fell in love with the stuff that meal.

After dinner we had a couple more cocktails before leaving and at some point I had to use the washroom. WHOA! Did my urine reek! What was this? I would learn it was the asparagus.






That was back in 2001 and I've always wondered what it was but never really took the time to look it up. Last night I made some stir fry with the green stalks. I've always heard how vitamin packed they are so I finally decided to look up both details.



Well the nutritional rumors are well confirmed! Vitamins A, C, B6, Thiamin, Riboflavin. Plus all the trace metals one could ask for in life: Iron, Potasium, Magnesium, Copper, Zinc. It's a regular mother load of mined minerals.




But what about the pee? That's what we really want to know about.

Turns out, there is no definitive answer. Most sources I found say it is mercaptan. Others say it is thioesters and ammonia. It goes to show that we just don't know as much as we think. I think it also points to the fact that there are certain things that probably aren't that hard to figure out but just don't justify the costs of money and time it would take to learn.

According to this guy at MadSci the chemicals can be harmful in large quantities so it makes sense that it is processed through the body in a short amount of time. I know that after eating asparagus I seem to need to pee quickly and the odor is there with in 15 or 20 minutes. MadSci says it seems like an indicator of good kidney function. I guess all the beer hasn't killed mine yet.

More interesting to me is that not everyone is affected this way. Studies show that 40% to 50% of the population produce smelly pee after eating asparagus. It is related to a person's genetic make up. Even more intriguing, depending on your genetic make up, you may or may not be able to smell the funky urine that asparagus produces. You could be stinking up a bathroom and not even know it. More here.


On a side note, the red peppers I cooked with the meal last night have a ridiculous amount of Vitamin C and A.