Asparagus Makes My Poop Black

by Kris Pitcher

This will be a "too much information" blog. So, feel free to either pull your chair up, or push it away. Either way...here we go. You've been warned.

Last week leading up to our local bodybuilding competition in which my husband had MANY competitors, we did a test run to see what I'm looking like. I was able to schedule a photo shoot with a local photographer who is usually very unavailable.

A great opportunity! It was one I couldn't pass up. It also afforded me the opportunity to take my body through a "water drop" to see what we're dealing with here. In preparation, I loaded up on locally grown asparagus. I got myself a 20 pound box!

Some I froze for later, and some I prepped for my week. I ate a combination of vegetables the beginning of the week. But at the end of the week...my only veggie was asparagus.

Now, I love asparagus. You and I both know it makes your pee smell funny. But I'd never eaten enough of it to find this out.

It made my poop black. Black I tell you. Be grossed out, but I know you look at your poop too. If you don't you are a liar, and you don't know what's going on in your body. You are a machine you know!

At just 20 calories per 1/2 cup asparagus is virtually nothing. But in that nothing there is a lot. It has virtually no salt, which makes it great for the last few days of prep, it is high in fiber, in folate and acts as a natural diuretic.

It is also high in vitamins K, A, C, E and in selenium, copper, and zinc. And here's the kicker... high in iron. Iron is the culprit. The black poop maker.

Same thing happens when I eat my weight in sushi wrapped in seaweed - also high in iron. Hey? You need to know what's going on in there!

Here's one thing I learned, asparagus contains insulin which promotes our digestive health by helping the good bacteria in our intestines grow. This is partly why it goes through us quickly. I love the stuff.

I've got some in the freezer for shows coming up. And boy we ate a lot of it. There's nothing like getting it fresh from the farm. Now you know...why what's in the bowl, is black. Iron. Take a look.