Asparagus Pee
It is the time of spring, the time when the baby asparagus piles are so lovingly cheap at the grocery store (and yet the snow still falls - 20 fresh cm at Whitewater ski hill this morning). One of the things I love about Brian is all the neat bits I learn from him. For example, when we first ate asparagus together, he informed me of something called 'asparagus pee'. I had never heard of such a thing. He is, unfortunately or otherwise, plagued with 'asparagus pee' every time he eats the green goods. Basically, the next pee you have after eating asparagus is all smelly -- BUT, only if you have the asparagus gene. Huh? Yeah, so we looked it up on Wikipedia yesterday and here's what we read:
Asparagus and urine
Marcel Proust claimed that asparagus "...transforms my chamber-pot into a flask of perfume."
Some of the constituents of asparagus are metabolized and excreted in the urine, giving it a distinctive smell. This is due to various sulfur-containing degradation products (e.g. thiols and thioesters) and ammonia. Recent studies suggest that every individual produces the odorous compounds upon eating, but that only about 40% of individuals have the genes required to smell them.[10][11] The speed of onset of urine smell is rapid, and has been estimated to occur within 15-30 minutes from ingestion.[12]
I don't know who Marcel Proust is, but that's one heck of a quote. So lucky am I that I don't have the genes to smell the 'perfume' of asparagus pee. After reading this blurb, however, I am curious to eat asparagus and see if Brian can smell said 'perfume' from my pee. I'll let you know.
posted by Dee @ 6:39 p.m.
2 comments
2 Comments:
Ah, yes, asparagus pee. I too have the gene. The first time I experienced it I catastrophized all kinds of medical disasters. And, by the way, if you had asparagus pee you wouldn't need Brian to sniff it out!
By the way, Marcel Proust wrote " Remembrance of Things Past," considered to be one of the best books ever written. D highly recommends it. Proust writes descriptive sentences that run on to half pages. Trust Proust to even romanticize pee. I can't read Proust without falling asleep. Even if D reads me passages aloud (which he is want to do), I fall into a trance-like state. But, if you have read Proust (which I haven't) you can pretend to be a literary force. But, then only if other people know who he is.
H
H.
Hmmm... fascinating blog entry, Dee. I learned more than I ever wanted to know on the phenomenon of a/p. Truly.
-S-
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