Why does asparagus make your pee smell? - Big Questions - (Ep. 22)

Hi, I'm Craig, and if you wanted to watch Mental Floss on YouTube today, you're in luck

Today I'm going to answer Doxies Rocks' big question. Why does Asparagus make your pee smell

Why does Aspergas make your pee smell? Thank you for your question, Doxies Rocks. I'm not sure why you capitalize the word Asparagus

but I'm going to assume that you're referring to the vegetable, not because you have a friend named Asparagus who makes your pea smell

because that sounds like a personal problem. Regardless, this is one of those hard-hitting questions that made me want to be a host in the first place. Let's get started

First of all, Doxies Rocks, you're in good company. In 1781, Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to the Royal Academy of Brussels, basically telling

them to invent a drug that would make bodily functions smell better. In the letter, he wrote, A few stems of asparagus eaten, shilkerun, a disagreeable odor

That guy really had a wide range of interest. Anyway, asparagus has a chemical in it that scientists believe is only found in that vegetable

hence the name, asparagusic acid. During digestion, the acid gets broken down, just like when you eat protein, your body breaks

it down into amino acids, just like how I break it down on the dance flow, and you'll feel

like you dropped acid. Asparagus acid gets broken down by our bodies into different compounds which contains sulfur Methanethyel and dimethyl sulfide create a pungent smell And dimethyl sulfoxide and dimethyl sulfone create a sweeter smell The combination of these in addition to other sulfur compounds

produce the pungent urine smell. They're known as volatile organic compounds because they can evaporate thanks to their

low boiling point, which means that we can smell it. Amazingly, the digestion process happens so fast that some people notice that their urine

starts to smell a mere 15 minutes after eating asparagus. But there's actually a way to lessen the odor

Drink water. Also, just never go to the bathroom. Hold it. Now some of you are like, what are you talking about, Craig

My pee doesn't smell after ate asparagus, I'm got, I'm got, I got, L-O-L. Well, it turns out that only some people experience the asparagus pee smell phenomenon

That's not actually what it's called, but that's what I'm going to call it, because I'm an innovator. And it has been studied quite a bit over the past few decades

There are probably two things happening here. First, around one quarter of people actually possess the ability to smell compounds in urine

That's right. Some of you can't even smell your own urine. Secondly, some people seem to digest asparagus differently altogether

For them, less sulfur-containing compounds are produced, so their urine doesn't. Doesn't smell at all

Well, aren't they special? Thanks for watching Mental Philosophy on YouTube, made with the help of these lovely people

one quarter of whom know that I smell like urine. If you have a big question, leave it in the comments below

Thanks for watching. See you next week