scientist have bring out some staggering news : Many people have never smelled asparagus pee — and never will . The experts , writing in theBritish Medical Journal , say more than half of player in a large study reported an unfitness to plunk up the scent .
People have been point out on the aroma of asparagus pee for just about as long as we ’ve been eating asparagus . A bemused Benjamin Franklinnotedthe “ disagreeable odor ” the vegetable make in his urine . Marcel Proust wax lyric on the subject , writingthat Asparagus officinales spears “ … played … at transforming my humble chamber into a bower of aromatic perfume . ”
The exact cause of that essence stay to be seen . scientist ’ current best guess is a natural compound calledasparagusic loony toons , which is found only in — you guessed it — asparagus . On its own the acid reek exquisitely ; it ’s after being processed through your body and coming out the other side that it acquires its signature scent .
The results were kind of astonishing . A full 58 per centum of work force and 61.5 pct of women said they ’d noticed no unusual perfume in their pee after eating asparagus . That ’s well over half of everyone in the discipline . All of the view respondents , including the ones who could detect the scent , were of European descent , which means these results ca n’t be considered representative of everyone everywhere .
The researchers then looked at the DNA of smellers and non - smellers to see if they could bump any differences . They could . The 4161 people with this asparagus anosmia collectively had hundreds of genetic variants , all turn up in the region of the chromosome connect with our sense of look .
" spectacular questions on this topic stay on , " fourth-year generator and epidemiologist Lorelei Mucci say in a statement . " First and foremost perhaps is : Why such a scrumptious delicacy as edible asparagus solvent in such a subtle odor , and what are the selective press drive genetic variations that head to asparagus anosmia ? "
Pernicious or no , the aroma is one that Mucci and her Centennial State - authors connote is an olfactive experience millions are missing out on . They take down that “ future replication studies are necessary ” but indicate a futurity of “ targeted therapy to help anosmatic people come across what they are missing . ”
