Benzoic acid and hippuric acid are formed from the bacterial metabolism of polyphenols. Urinary benzoic acid may also come from ingestion of food preservatives such as sodium benzoate. Hippuric acid is made when sodium benzoate is conjugated with glycine.
Common Dietary Sources:
Orange juice, elderberry, huckleberry, food preservative, berries, other flavonoids
References:
- Badenhorst CP, Erasmus E, van der Sluis R, Nortje C, van Dijk AA. A new perspective on the importance of glycine conjugation in the metabolism of aromatic acids. Drug Metab Rev. 2014;46(3):343- 361.
- Lees HJ, Swann JR, Wilson ID, Nicholson JK, Holmes E. Hippurate: the natural history of a mammalian-microbial cometabolite. J Proteome Res. 2013;12(4):1527-1546.
- Loo RL, Zou X, Appel LJ, Nicholson JK, Holmes E. Characterization of metabolic responses to healthy diets and association with blood pressure: application to the Optimal Macronutrient Intake Trial for Heart Health (OmniHeart), a randomized controlled study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2018;107(3):323-334.
- Williams HR, Cox IJ, Walker DG, et al. Differences in gut microbial metabolism are responsible for reduced hippurate synthesis in Crohn’s disease. BMC Gastroenterol. 2010;10:108.
Hippuric Acid
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