Asparagus pee...why?!
Question: Nothing else makes my pee smelly - so why does asparagus?
Answers: Nothing else makes my pee smelly - so why does asparagus?
Asparagus contains a sulfur compound called mercaptan. As your body breaks it down, the by products (methyl mercaptan) are excreted in the urine (and they smell).
Another thought is the smell is a derivative of the amino acid, asparagine; but research is suggesting otherwise. Either way, it is something that happens in our bodies and does not happen during cooking.
Apparently, not all of us have the gene to break down the compounds in asparagus. About 1/2 of us don't get the smelly pee. Weird.
Weirder is: why I know this?
Look up asparagine
It has one or more compounds that are converted (presumably in the liver) into the really volatile ones that you can smell.
They are thought to be:
S-methyl thioacrylate and
S-methyl 3-(methylthio)thiopropionate
The thio part means they are sulfur compounds, which often smell.