teens was Re: SC - alcohol revisited

[Bonne of Traquair]

Robbin Long wrote:
> 
> >I'm sure I have this information somewhere, but the bottom line is that
> >everybody's urine has this chemical in it after eating asparagus, but
> >not everyone has the gene that enables them to smell it. You, like me,
> >are what Harold McGee has referred to, in the section of "On Food and
> >Cooking" that deals with this, a stinker. ;  )
> >
> >Adamantius
> 
>< Current thinking suggests there may be two genes - one controlling
the ability to break down the mercaptans (or aspargusic acid - the
identity of even the compound is subject to active debate) in the
asparagus to create the smell in the urine, and the other to be able to
detect the smell.  So, even though you may be a "stinker", you may not
be a "smeller".  You would have to have both genes to be able to your
own urine.  This also explains why some folks are more offended by the
smell of someone who has had a heavy garlicky dinner, while others don't
seem to notice - the same basic compounds are at work (the same ones,
incidentally that make skunks stink).><

Okay, so where previously it was thought that everyone was a stinker
while only some were smellers, the current opinion is that not everyone
is a stinker, either. Good to know. I should point out that the book I
worked from was published in 1984. Presumably that was the current
information 17 years ago.
 
> Boy, bet no-one suspected that they were bringing up cutting-edge biochemical research here, did they?  Your research dollars at work...
>

Have you been on this list long ;  )  ? I'm not in the least surprised!

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com