{"id":1738388,"date":"2022-02-03T16:14:31","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T22:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/?p=1738388"},"modified":"2023-12-05T06:05:57","modified_gmt":"2023-12-05T12:05:57","slug":"why-does-asparagus-make-your-pee-smell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/why-does-asparagus-make-your-pee-smell\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Does Asparagus Make Your Pee Smell?"},"content":{"rendered":"There are some foods in this world that do weird things to your body. Eating too many carrots can result in orange skin, almonds can put you to sleep and beets can turn your pee pink. The world never<\/em> ceases to amaze me! But those aren't the only unusual side effects of the food we eat.\r\n\r\nThe age-old question remains: Why does asparagus make your pee smell? I did some research to find the answer.\r\n

What Causes the Asparagus Pee Smell?<\/h2>\r\nIt starts with a compound known as asparagusic acid. Yes, as the name implies, this compound is currently only found in asparagus. As you eat your crisp oven-roasted asparagus<\/a>, your metabolism produces several sulfuric byproducts in the process. Neat, huh?\r\n\r\nIf you know the smell of sulfur, you know it smells kind of like rotten eggs. It happens fast, too\u2014the smell can happen as soon as 15 minutes<\/em> after the first bite of your air-fryer asparagus<\/a>.\r\n

Does This Happen to Everyone<\/em>?<\/h2>\r\nI thought it was something everyone had to suffer through, but that doesn't seem to be the case. About 20-50% of people experience this smelly phenomenon, according to the Cleveland Clinic<\/a>. The rest get off scot-free! Well, kind of.\r\n\r\nThere are two theories as to why the other half of the population gets to skip the stink. They were either born with the ability to break down sulfur compounds more efficiently, or their noses have developed enough to prevent them from smelling their own stink. How lucky!\r\n

How Do You Prevent the Smell?<\/h2>\r\nThe only way to stop it is to not eat asparagus at all, unfortunately. And we're just not<\/em> going to do that. Asparagus is way too tasty to skip! But you can drink more water<\/a> to help dilute the scent as best you can. If sulfur is all I have to suffer through to enjoy my Parmesan asparagus<\/a>, I can handle that without a\u00a0problem.\r\n\r\n[cf]skyword_tracking_tag[\/cf]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This stink affects an unlucky 20% to 50% of the population.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7801,"featured_media":1738529,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[304988],"categories-v2":[308935],"coauthors":[322366],"acf":{"ncv_override_generic_settings_option":false,"ncv_autoplay_option":"","ncv_stickyplay_option":"","ncv_ads_option":"","ncv_mute_option":"","ncv_comscore_option":"","ncv_moat_option":"","ncv_autoplay_mobile_option":"","ncv_viewable_threshold_option":"","ncv_sticky_offset_option":"","ncv_autopause_option":"","ncv_sticky_offset_mobile_option":"","ncv_autopause_mobile_option":"","ncv_sticky_mobile_option":"","ncv_remove_player_option":false,"long_pin_file":false,"long_pin":""},"yoast_head":"\nWhy Does Asparagus Make Your Pee Smell? | Taste Recipes<\/title>\n\n\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/why-does-asparagus-make-your-pee-smell\/\" \/>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Does Asparagus Make Your Pee Smell? | Taste Recipes","description":"Why does asparagus make your pee smell? 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When she\u2019s not working, Melany is playing the latest video game, curled up with a book or spending time with her cats.<\/p>","twitter":"","instagram":"","facebook":"","public_email":"","linkedin":"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/melany-love-b8b7a6b5\/","tiktok":"","youtube":"","location":"Chicago, IL","school_and_year":"University of Illinois","education":"<p>University of Illinois, bachelor's in English creative writing<\/p>","highlights":"<ul>\r\n<li class=\"ewa-rteLine\">5 years of writing for brands like <em>Taste Recipes<\/em> and <em>The Kitchn<\/em><\/li>\r\n<li class=\"ewa-rteLine\">Has written more than 500 pieces for <em>Taste Recipes<\/em><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","expertise":"Food news","short_bio":"<p>Melany started her career in writing at <em>Taste Recipes<\/em>. 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