Ability To Smell 'asparagus Pee' Driven By Genetic Variations

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SubscribeWhy does asaparagus change the smell of urine?Medically reviewed by Alana Biggers, M.D., MPH — Written by Hannah Nichols — Updated on October 13, 2025

Some people may notice that their urine takes on a different, often unpleasant, smell after eating asparagus. This occurs due to the breakdown of asparagus during digestion and the release of sulfur-containing compounds within the vegetable.

This compound is asparagusic acid. During digestion, the body metabolizes asparagusic acid and produces several sulfur-containing byproducts. These byproducts are both potent in their odor and vaporize easily outside of the body.

When the body removes these compounds through urination, it can produce an unpleasant odor. However, not everyone will experience urine odor after eating asparagus. Researchers are unclear about the exact mechanism of this.

One hypothesis suggests that some people do not metabolize the odor-creating compounds, while another suggests that some people lack the ability to detect the odor, even when it is present.

Learn more

• Urine smell during pregnancy
• Sweet-smelling urine
• Urine smells like ammonia
• Why does urine change odor?

 

• Genetics
• Ear, Nose, and Throat
• Nutrition / Diet
• Urology / Nephrology

How we reviewed this article:

SourcesMedical News Today has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We only use quality, credible sources to ensure content accuracy and integrity. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

• Markt SC, et al. (2016). Sniffing out significant “Pee values”: genome wide association study of asparagus anosmia.https://www.bmj.com/content/355/bmj.i6071
• Ramamoorthy A, et al. (2017.). Crowdsourced asparagus urinary odor population kinetics.https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5784735/

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Medically reviewed by Alana Biggers, M.D., MPH — Written by Hannah Nichols — Updated on October 13, 2025

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