A Lifestylye Blog

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Nutrition and Health- Asparagus



Asparagus~ Are you one of the 25%? (And a great simple recipe for enjoying your veggies)



Have you ever noticed a very pungent and distinct smell in your urine after eating this herbaceous plant? Packed full of Vitamin A, C and K, Folate and Thiamin, this veggie also produces sulfurous compounds in the urine as a result of being insufficiently broken down in the body and can cause a very odorous urine. For years, I could not figure why my urine would smell so strongly at random. I thought something was seriously wrong with me. Thank goodness for google these days where we can look-up our symptoms and hopefully what we find is not life-shattering. After seeing a common theme with the odorous urine and asparagus I was able to put this veggie to the test. And it passed. Just minutes after eating this veg I found the smell crept back into my system. The fun fact here is that only 25% of the population actually has the gene to smell this chemical reaction happening in the urine. Are you one of them? I hope this serves as a fun motivator and mini science experiment (especially for us nerds out there) to eat this veggie. I think it is extremely important to be in tune with our bodies and how they react to different foods. Need a way to flavor them up? Check out the simple recipe below:

Easy Asparagus Recipe:
Ingredients: 
1) Fresh Asparagus (cut the white ends off before cooking)
2) Sea Salt
3) Garlic
4) Olive Oil

Preparation:
Saute asparagus, olive oil, and garlic in pan for about 10 minutes. Season with sea salt to taste. 
That's it. So simple! And it tastes delicious. This works with pretty much any vegetable: zucchini squash, yellow squash, baby broccoli (the ones listed here are in season which equals cheaper!), and more!


Additional Resources:

Pelchat, Marcia Levin, et al. "Excretion and perception of a characteristic odor in urine after asparagus ingestion: a psychophysical and genetic study."Chemical senses 36.1 (2011): 9-17.

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