# Smelly Urine **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 29, 2005, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-urine/310362 "2005-06-29T15:01:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jim\_marren\_yahoo.com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@jim\_marren\_yahoo.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jim_marren_yahoo.com)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-urine/310362/1 "2005-06-29T15:01:34Z")
Why does drinking espresso make my urine smell? I have heard others say similar things about tuna and that leaves me puzzled as well. I know the whole asparagus thing… ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-urine/310362/2 "2005-06-29T15:57:00Z")
And pineapple juice… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-urine/310362/3 "2005-06-29T20:08:01Z")
Try a big helping of asparagus! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-urine/310362/4 "2005-06-29T20:15:15Z")
Sugar puffs or weetabix for me :eek: ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-urine/310362/5 "2005-06-29T21:46:27Z")
A high dosage Penicillin I took for a couple of weeks really made the old gipsy’s\* smell something horrible. - gipsy’s kiss = piss; Cock-a-knee rhyming slang involving a mainly British variant of “gypsy” ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-urine/310362/6 "2005-06-29T21:56:10Z")
Espresso does this to my urine too. Don’t know why. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-urine/310362/7 "2005-06-29T22:01:35Z")
Drink a six pack of Hornsby’s Cider and the next morning at the john you’ll think you’re in an apple orchard. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-urine/310362/8 "2005-06-29T22:23:24Z")
Years ago I had to take clap shots and pead bright orange for days. My buddies all knew what was happen’ and I definitely caught Hell! (Public Urinal) And yes asparagus does make your pee smell. Unka Cecil commented on this at one time. Yella piss is good! Jack ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-urine/310362/9 "2005-06-29T22:39:32Z")
Not just espresso–I notice it with any coffee. Kind of a smoky odor. I only drink coffee about once a week, but I drink tea every day, so I can tell it’s not the caffeine. ---
**Author:** ![daffyduck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ec9cab/32.png) [@daffyduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daffyduck)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-urine/310362/10 "2005-06-30T05:06:53Z")
My guess would be that the obvious answer is the correct answer. There are aromatic compounds that aren’t being broken down by your digestive processes and which are small enough to be absorbed into the bloodstream where they are filtered out by the kidneys. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-urine/310362/11 "2005-06-30T17:29:03Z")
> [@jim\_marren@yahoo.com](#): > > I have heard others say similar things about tuna and that leaves me puzzled as well. I’m curious about the tuna as well. I ate tuna way too much a few summers back. My urine often smelled sort of fishy. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-urine/310362/12 "2005-07-01T01:34:24Z")
If you drink Slim Fast, it’ll smell like whatever flavor you most recently drank. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smelly-urine/310362/13 "2005-07-01T01:34:55Z")
Well, me, anyway. 🙂