It's a strange question but does any one notice a strange urine smell after eating Asparagus??? Is there any reason for this?

And...

Can someone tell me about Erythitol.... Supposedly a natural sweetener sometimes blended with stevia... what i have read about it is that it's ok low glycemic bacteria can't eat it etc... anyone know anymore about it... i'm skeptical...but i have a sweet tooth and i'm not to have sweet fruit for a bit...

thank you for your wisdom...

love laugh and dream

about asparagus from [www.wisegeek.com] not sure about your other question sorry

Asparagus, a green vegetable belonging to the lily family, has one notorious side effect for some diners who eat enough of it. Within a half-hour of asparagus consumption, some people notice their urine has acquired a very pungent odor, often compared to rotting cabbage, ammonia or rotten eggs. The effects of asparagus on urine are generally fleeting and harmless, but it's not necessarily the consumer's finest hour, bodily excretion-wise.

The good news is that asparagus does not affect everyone. Studies conducted on the "asparagus urine" phenomenon (aren't you glad you didn't volunteer!) indicate that roughly 40 to 50 percent of those tested developed the distinctive odor. Surprisingly enough, there is also a segment of the population who cannot smell the sulphurous fumes of asparagus-laced urine. It is believed that both the generation of the odoriferous urine and the ability to smell it are based on genetics. Only those with a certain gene can break down the chemicals inside the asparagus into their smelly components, and only those with the proper gene can smell the results of that chemical breakdown.

Scientists are still not entirely sure which set of chemical compounds contained in asparagus actually cause the smelly pee. The stalks themselves do not acquire a similar odor as they are prepared, so whatever happens most likely happens after ingestion. Experts believe that those with a certain gene produce a digestive enzyme which breaks down the asparagus into various chemical compounds. One of those compounds is called methyl mercaptan, which is the same chemical which gives a skunk its defensive smell. One theory suggests that asparagus breaks down quickly in the body and an enzyme releases methyl mercaptan, which eventually goes through the kidneys and is excreted as a waste product in the urine.

Others suggest that the asparagus smell is created by other chemical compounds called thioesters. There is also a compound called asparagusic acid, which is not surprisingly found primarily in asparagus. If these compounds are broken down and mixed with the genetically-created enzyme, the results could be a strong smelling urine. This smell is actually considered to be good news, since it proves that the asparagus eater's kidneys are functioning as they should.

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Good God - you live and learn

hmmm... that's very interesting... i feel rather special now... thanks for the info

love laugh and dream

you are special !

i hate how the article doesnt mention the name of the gene or the enzyme tho lol .. just out of curosity

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

You aren't allowed to ask scientific questions here. Everyone here knows that 'science' and "scientists" are stupid.

Everyone who is "smart" knows that there is no such thing as chemicals in fruits and vegetables. And there is no such thing as "genes" either, that is just a conspiracy to make you eat more meat.

If you're doing it right, you don't even have to eat. You can live on air and there is no such thing as calories.

i still wanna know

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

From:
S. C. Mitchell
Drug Metabolism and Disposition
Food Idiosyncrasies: Beetroot and Asparagus
Vol. 29, Issue 4, Part 2, 539-543, April 2001
[dmd.aspetjournals.org]

"Of the many sulfur-containing compounds identified in asparagus only asparagusic acid (1,2-dithiolane-4-carboxylic acid) and its derivatives appear unique (Jansen, 1948; Schotte and Ström, 1956; Yanagawa et al., 1972, 1973; Tressl et al., 1977a,b).

"A recent study demonstrated that when asparagusic acid was given orally to two subjects known to possess the odor-producing characteristic, graveolent urine was produced and shown to contain the same volatiles in similar proportions to their asparagus-induced odorous urines. Another individual who did not possess the characteristic did not produce odorous urine after taking asparagusic acid. The authors concluded that asparagusic acid and its derivatives, probably bound in some form within the vegetable, may be the precursors of the urinary odor (Waring et al., 1987).

"With regards to metabolism, asparagusic acid may be reduced within the mammalian system to its free thiol form, which could presumably be methylated and then be a substrate for thionase/-lyase activity liberating methanethiol (Binkley, 1950). Dimerization of methanethiol would yield dimethyl disulfide, while methylation and subsequent sulfur oxidation would give dimethyl sulfide, sulfoxide, and sulfone.

"...many other compounds have been found within asparagus, including unusual cysteine derivatives (Kasai et al., 1981), and although these occur in other vegetables the concentration differences may be sufficient to engender this phenomenon. More detailed work must be undertaken in this area before this age-old curiosity can be finally evaluated and laid to rest."

luvyuu Wrote:
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[ i have a sweet tooth and i'm not to have sweet fruit for a bit... ]

Let me get this straight:

You are not to have sweet fruit. You did not state the reasons why.

But you want to have a concentrated sweetener, something without the fiber, protective phytochemicals, vitamins, and minerals.

I am pretty sure that your planned alternative will be a whole lot worse than whatever it is that you "are not to have" from fruit.

We are not designed to take in appreciable quantities of sugar alcohols. You can expect gas and lots of loose stools.

whew ! thanks Arugula thats some interesting stuff to wrap the brain around.

it makes me think that once again the notion that one way works for all probably isnt possible .. when something like this simple little gene that some have some dont makes him digest something differently then her ..

interesting stuff

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

[it makes me think that once again the notion that one way works for all probably isnt possible .. when something like this simple little gene that some have some dont makes him digest something differently then her .. ]

Well, I agree with regards to particular food items. There are immune system quirks. But probably not so much when it comes to broader classifications. Who among us is truly better off without fiber? With only processed foods? Without fruits and vegetables?

hehe nobody i can think of

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

woe... this is interesting but a bit more scientific then i expected... but interesting none the less... as long as they don't say i have to stop eating asparagus i'm ok with it...because as i embark on my more focused healing diet ... i feel like i can't eat anything...

arugla
according to the ph balance miracle...and Gabriel Cousins... and other sources to balance my wacked out PH i need to cut out sweet fruits for a bit...to discourage the bacteria, yeast,cadida parasites...and encourage a more alkaline system...

the exception for sweetner was stevia... which to my knowledge is natural... and doesn't affect the blood sugar or feed the little creatures that can take over and cause problems...... but when looking for it... i found some blends and i was simply curious as to what Erythitol is exactly... some places have said it is also low glycemic and doesn't feed the bad guys... i simply would like to know if anyone knows more about it and or has any experience with it...

love laugh and dream

i looked up the side effects of the sweetner and it says laxative and gaseous , so im not so sure you want to use that its up to you .. how bout just getting some strait liquid stevia from the health food store that would probably be better

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

[according to the ph balance miracle...and Gabriel Cousins... and other sources to balance my wacked out PH i need to cut out sweet fruits for a bit...to discourage the bacteria, yeast,cadida parasites...and encourage a more alkaline system... ]

There is zero credible evidence for this line of thinking.

The trouble with Cousens is that he mixes facts with fictions but he doesn't make the distinction in his books where he veers into fantasy, which is pretty often.

For example: if he were responsible, he would write something like:

blah blah blah blah (references provided)

but I suspect

blah blah blah blah (no references provided, strictly my opinion, which is totally unsupported in the established literature, I believe this because of blah blah blah blah but others do not because of blah blah blah blah,

That's the way to express your opinion when it's nothing but that.

Your pH balance will be fine with fruit. Fruit eating is not causal for bacteria build up, yeast buildup or any other sort of "parasite" buildup. Unless it's infected somehow, but that can be true for anything you ingest.

Well, after puffing up with pride on finding that my body is one of the clever ones, ie breaks up asparagus beautifully, makes smelly wee AND I can smell it (!), is there anyone here who's NEVER detected that smell in their wee after asparagus? (As I thought everyone did!)

Or are you going to keep quiet? :-)

ok... jodi i will i have seen this liquid stevia and that is what i will get...

yes i feel the same pride you do debbietook...quite nice aye...

so...arugula the thing i have found with a lot of books or nutritional styles is that i am not going to agree with everything... like the eat for your blood type which tells me i NEED to eat meat...though i'm starting to waver there.... so with these nutritional styles... though i am more closely going with the ph miracle right now... because of the metabolic acidosis i'm dealing with...i will try it out and see if it's right for me.

it is not the first time i have read about the low sugar idea including fruit...because sugar is no matter how natural it is... sugar... and fruit tends to trigger me to eat more and make me want more...triggering a binge thing in me...as well as creating gas... which makes sense to me... cause what happens when you add sugar to yeast when making bread... it produces gas and makes the bread rise... or in this case my belly

what i will do is try it out for a while... and see if it works for me... the idea from several sources is to eat 80% alkaline and 20% acidic... and most sweet fruits are acidic according to most alkaline acid charts from several different sources...

I feel like i am on a good track with this now...what I was doing before was not working for me... so i needed to try something different...cause honestly i'm about ready to give up on the whole raw foods thing all together... cause lately i have just wanted to sink my teeth into something more substantial... i see all these perfectly healthy people eating what ever they want and they are happy... if i'm so stressed about what i can and cannot eat and i'm still having problems what's the point?

but now i have a more serious thing going on...i'm eating mostly raw for 9 months now...including lots of fruit and i'm still acidic... what's up with that? maybe it's the fruit... i guess i will find out...

love laugh and dream