Now on DNews: Five Fun Facts about Pee!! Because, this is the internet people, get over it.
Hi everyone! Crystal here for DNews ready to share my five
favorite facts about pee. There are so many weird or funny things about urine that its
hard to choose just five but here are my highlights: First, as Im sure you know, pee or urine is
liquid excreted from the bladder. When excreted it carries with it salts, sugars, chemical
byproducts, and any potential toxins or chemicals that the body can’t break down. We call
these excreted compounds, metabolites, because they are the leftovers from the biochemical
process of metabolism.
And that leads me to Fun Fact #1! In “you can find anything on the internet” news,
I am here to tell you that there is a database for what can be found in your pee. The human
body produces thousands of chemical metabolites that are found in urine in differing concentrations
depending on diet, environment, and overall health. And Canadians are so nice, you can
find a publicly available list in a continuously updating database called the “urine metabolome
database”. yep, thats a thing, there is a database of pee.
Fun Fact #2!: In mammals, chemicals in urine can be used for biological communication between
sexes. Just as an example, there is literature to suggest that exposure to the urine of a
dominant male mouse causes new neurons to form in the brain of a female mouse. And the
importance of urine in the mating behavior of Giraffes has been (very) well documented:
(Here’s the cliff notes: male giraffes drink the pee of potential female partners to see
if she “suits his taste”)
Fun fact #3!: Genetics can dictate the smell of your pee. Some people born with a genetic
inability to metabolize branched amino acids suffer from maple syrup urine disorder. this
disease is rare but easily recognisable by pee that smells like pancakes. Now at least
50% of you are probably wondering if Im going to mention Asparagus here and if you are wondering,
its a good bet that you do NOT contain the genetic mutation that makes humans selectively
anosmic to the sulfur containing compounds that give asparagus pee its special odor.
Isn’t human genetics wonderful?
Fun Fact #4!: Our urine can reveal secrets about our health and diet. Urine analysis
has been used for centuries to diagnose health problems and I’m sure you’re familiar
with the common tests for drugs or pregnancy, but recent work by scientists show that it
is possible to use ratios of metabolites to predict development of less obvious conditions
like obesity! For those of you scared of needles this is good news! Because a urine test for
these conditions would be less invasive and (hopefully) less anxiety producing than the
standard blood test.
And last but not least: Fun Fact #5!: Human pee is putting fish on birth control. In yet
another case of human action unknowingly affecting the rest of our planet, recent studies have
shown that metabolites of the human birth control pill, that are excreted in urine are
finding their way to waterways and building up in some fish species. Not only is this
exposure contributing to reduced fertility in these fish, but there are documented cases
on the US East Coast, of male fish switching sexes after prolonged exposure to these synthetic
hormone bi-products!! That my friends, is the power of pee.
So the next time you urinate, I hope you will find a new appreciation for the act and think
about all those powerful and revealing chemicals that you are just casually flushing down the toilet.