Next year's garden will be highlighting Asparagus. We love and eat both on a regular basis and in the garden they look pretty cool. Who knew asparagus grew like a tree? Interesting. Some folks don't fancy them, but many consider asparagus tips a delicacy. When my son was small he would get very upset when they were served and cry. "Don't make me eat the necks!" He would then shiver and his nostrils would flare. He grew up to be an attorney, so mothers take heart. But I digress. I have just learned that between 40-50% of the population produces a digestive enzyme that results in odoriferous urine about 30 minutes after ingestion. This must have been a much bigger social problem when toilets or toileting had a more communal nature.
Additionally, there is only a segment of the population who can smell the results of that chemical breakdown. The chemical in question is methyl mercaptan and the smell, in my opinion, is reminiscent of overcooked asparagus. Methyl mercaptan is that which gives a skunk its defensive smell. Setting that side effect aside, asparagus are really good for you. Researchers at researchers at the University of California-Davis have identified an enzyme in asparagus that appears to detoxify malathion, a commonly used pesticide. While malathion itself is of low toxicity, ingestion readily results in its metabolism to malaoxon, which is substantially more toxic. When researchers compared rates of malathion degradation among extracts of carrot, kale, spinach, broccoli and asparagus under the same conditions, they found that asparagus came out on top, reducing the malathion concentration to undetectable levels. (Eat your asparagus.) Asparagus has long been considered an aphrodisiac, possibly due to its phallic shape, but also because according to traditional Indian medicine, it increases circulation in the genito-urinary system. Research on asparagus, much of which has been done at Rutgers University, has uncovered two phytochemicals, protodioscin and rutin, that show promise in inhibiting a number of cancers cells (colon cancer and leukemia), and lowering cholesterol. It is of interest to note that they have also identified that protodioscin, which is present in asparagus, has been linked to improvement of sexual performance! (Oh, you'll have seconds?")I love it when modern medicine confirms traditional medicine. Yeah bro, we knew that all along, it is the dawning of the age of asparagus.
Next year's garden will be highlighting Asparagus. We love and eat both on a regular basis and in the garden they look pretty cool. Who knew asparagus grew like a tree? Interesting. Some folks don't fancy them, but many consider asparagus tips a delicacy. When my son was small he would get very upset when they were served and cry. "Don't make me eat the necks!" He would then shiver and his nostrils would flare. He grew up to be an attorney, so mothers take heart. But I digress. I have just learned that between 40-50% of the population produces a digestive enzyme that results in odoriferous urine about 30 minutes after ingestion. This must have been a much bigger social problem when toilets or toileting had a more communal nature. 
Additionally, there is only a segment of the population who can smell the results of that chemical breakdown. The chemical in question is methyl mercaptan and the smell, in my opinion, is reminiscent of overcooked asparagus. Methyl mercaptan is that which gives a skunk its defensive smell. Setting that side effect aside, asparagus are really good for you. Researchers at researchers at the University of California-Davis have identified an enzyme in asparagus that appears to detoxify malathion, a commonly used pesticide. While malathion itself is of low toxicity, ingestion readily results in its metabolism to malaoxon, which is substantially more toxic. When researchers compared rates of malathion degradation among extracts of carrot, kale, spinach, broccoli and asparagus under the same conditions, they found that asparagus came out on top, reducing the malathion concentration to undetectable levels. (Eat your asparagus.) Asparagus has long been considered an aphrodisiac, possibly due to its phallic shape, but also because according to traditional Indian medicine, it increases circulation in the genito-urinary system. Research on asparagus, much of which has been done at Rutgers University, has uncovered two phytochemicals, protodioscin and rutin, that show promise in inhibiting a number of cancers cells (colon cancer and leukemia), and lowering cholesterol. It is of interest to note that they have also identified that protodioscin, which is present in asparagus, has been linked to improvement of sexual performance! (Oh, you'll have seconds?")I love it when modern medicine confirms traditional medicine. Yeah bro, we knew that all along, it is the dawning of the age of asparagus.
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