The next day the same people were given the same-sized bottle of water along with an Italian bread roll containing the same amount of oil and salt as the asparagus. Then the rest of the procedure was repeated. It is theoretically possible that people may lack an enzyme which prevents them from both producing and detecting a particular odour in urine.
The sweet smell of excess - do we have to eat large quantities of asparagus before we can smell it in our urine? Getty Images. From her results, Pelchat found evidence that the ability to detect the smell was related to a single gene , but she saw no such link for odour production. Or perhaps we all excrete it, but some do so in such tiny quantities that they would need to eat several bunches of asparagus before it was detectable by other humans.
And even if we do find the solution we may never know why Arbuthnot thought the smell is repugnant while some, like Proust, find it so delightful. Disclaimer All content within this column is provided for general information only, and should not be treated as a substitute for the medical advice of your own doctor or any other health care professional.
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Learn about the potential health benefits of eating asparagus. Achondroplasia is a rare genetic disorder that causes short stature and bowed legs as a result of a genetic mutation.
Learn more. In a new study, researchers found that people with a particular variant of a gene that produces oxytocin tended to follow more people on Instagram. The mutation can lead to many health conditions.
Niemann-Pick disease is a rare genetic disorder that renders the body incapable of metabolizing cholesterol and other lipids inside cells. There is…. Stem cells are nonspecific cells that can develop into any kind of cell in the body. Scientists hope to use them in regenerative medicine. Learn more…. Excretion and perception of a characteristic odor in urine after asparagus ingestion: a psychophysical and genetic study. Chemical Senses Richer, C. Decker, J. Belin, J.
Imbs, J. Montastruc, and J. Odorous urine in man after asparagus. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology Sugarman, J. You're in for a treat: asparagus. North Carolina Medical Journal Takasugi, M. Yachida, M. Anetai, T. Masamune, and K. Kegasawa, K. Identification of asparagusic acid as a nematicide occurring naturally in roots of asparagus. Chemistry Letters Waring, R. Mitchell, and G. The chemical nature of the urinary odour produced by man after asparagus ingestion. Xenobiotica White, R.
Occurrence of S-methyl thioesters in urines of humans after they have eaten asparagus. Science Yanagawa, H. Kato, Y. Kitahara, N. Takahashi, and Y. Asparagusic acid, dihydroasparagusic acid and S-acetyldihydroasparagusic acid, new plant growth inhibitors in etoilated young Asparagus officinalis.
Tetrahedron Letters This page was last revised December 8, It may be cited as pp. Myths of Human Genetics. Sparky House Publishing, Baltimore, Maryland. You can probably do what you want with this content; see the permissions page for details. Myths of Human Genetics John H. But modern science has, at least, shed some light on why this one particular vegetable has such an unusual and potent impact on the scent of urine.
Scientists tell us that the asparagus-urine link all comes down to one chemical: asparagusic acid. Asparagusic acid, as the name implies, is to our knowledge only found in asparagus.
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