Spring was a big deal for me this year because it is the first year I've harvested the organic asparagus I planted almost 4 years ago. For those of you who don't know, it takes a few years before you can enjoy the fruits of your labor (and some of you insist I have no patience). I could have broken off some spears last year, but my husband mowed them down when he thought they were a particularly aggressive weed sprouting in the backyard. Although the harvest was delayed another year, it was certainly worth the wait. These are the sprouts from one of the crowns before they made it to the table.
But I digress...
This story isn't about the patience required to grow asparagus, but about the unique odor produced by the urine of about half those who eat the yummy vegetable. And that brings me back to my daughter, the picky eater, who will eat anything if I promise the chance that a foul odor might result. When you factor in that "hypothesis" is her new favorite word, we had a ready-made science experiment waiting to happen. Court predicted that "her pee would smell terrible because mom's does when she eats asparagus, and if 50% of people are affected with "stinky pee" then certainly her chances were improved greatly."
I know you're dying to know the results, right? After 3 spears of asparagus, Court did produce the "stinky pee" she expected. The snickering on the other side of the bathroom door told me the answer long before the announced, "EEEEEEEWWWWW!!!!!!!!" at the top of her lungs.
I didn't have the heart to break it to her that there are conflicting studies that say we are all "excretors" of the by-products of the breakdown of asparagusic acid, therefore we all produce "stinky pee" and that the defining characteristic may be that only some of us are "perceivers" who can smell the odor. If she knew this, surely Court would have requested a controlled study comprised of all the members of our family. Sounds like the perfect excuse to expand the asparagus patch this fall!
But I digress...
This story isn't about the patience required to grow asparagus, but about the unique odor produced by the urine of about half those who eat the yummy vegetable. And that brings me back to my daughter, the picky eater, who will eat anything if I promise the chance that a foul odor might result. When you factor in that "hypothesis" is her new favorite word, we had a ready-made science experiment waiting to happen. Court predicted that "her pee would smell terrible because mom's does when she eats asparagus, and if 50% of people are affected with "stinky pee" then certainly her chances were improved greatly."
I know you're dying to know the results, right? After 3 spears of asparagus, Court did produce the "stinky pee" she expected. The snickering on the other side of the bathroom door told me the answer long before the announced, "EEEEEEEWWWWW!!!!!!!!" at the top of her lungs.
I didn't have the heart to break it to her that there are conflicting studies that say we are all "excretors" of the by-products of the breakdown of asparagusic acid, therefore we all produce "stinky pee" and that the defining characteristic may be that only some of us are "perceivers" who can smell the odor. If she knew this, surely Court would have requested a controlled study comprised of all the members of our family. Sounds like the perfect excuse to expand the asparagus patch this fall!
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