Health Clues From Color The most optimal color for your urine is a pale yellow. If it is a darker yellow or orange, it can mean you are becoming dehydrated. An orange urine could indicate a serious liver condition. Darker brown can be caused by foods or medication.
Healthy urine is usually a pale to medium yellow color, it's clear, and has a subtle pee odor. These characteristics tell you that you're drinking enough water, and nothing is visibly abnormal.
“The color of your urine is a great barometer of whether you're hydrating well enough. If it's clear or straw-colored, then you're drinking sufficient fluid. If it becomes dark yellow or brown, then you are likely somewhat dehydrated,” says UCI Health urologist Dr.
When your kidneys are failing, a high concentration and accumulation of substances lead to brown, red, or purple urine. Studies suggest the urine color is due to abnormal protein or sugar as well as high numbers of cellular casts and red and white blood cells.
Pale or transparent yellow urine
Diabetes insipidus is a condition in which the body produces excess urine. It can cause people to pass large quantities of light-colored urine every time they urinate. It can also cause people to feel very thirsty, leading them to drink fluids frequently.
An occasional clear pee isn't a big deal. But if it's an ongoing issue you may be lowering salt and electrolyte levels below what your body needs. What if your urine is clear and you're not knocking back glass after glass of water? That may signal an underlying kidney problem or diabetes.
If you have diabetes insipidus, you'll continue to pee large amounts of watery (dilute), light-colored urine when normally you'd only pee a small amount of concentrated, dark yellow urine.
Dark urine can be a sign of dehydration, jaundice, infections, and other health conditions. Certain medications and foods such, as rhubarb or beets, can also change the color of urine.
Urine (pee) is made up of water and waste. Pee smells different when there's less water and/or more waste. Certain foods, medications, and dehydration can cause smelly pee. Less commonly, smelly pee might be due to a health condition, like a urinary tract infection or diabetes.
In most cases, clear urine is a sign that you're well hydrated. And that's a positive thing because good hydration helps your body function at its best. But, in some cases, clear pee may mean that you're drinking too much water and you're too hydrated.
Reddish urine could also be a sign of lead or mercury poisoning. Dark brown urine could indicate liver failure. Cola- or tea-colored urine could indicate inflammation of the kidneys (glomerulonephritis).
If you see ants congregating around your urine, it likely means you have too much sugar in your system.
For most people, the normal number of times to urinate per day is between 6 – 7 in a 24 hour period. Between 4 and 10 times a day can also be normal if that person is healthy and happy with the number of times they visit the toilet.
And some medicines can give urine vivid tones, such as orange or greenish-blue. An unusual urine color also can be a sign of a health problem. For instance, some urinary tract infections can turn urine milky white. Kidney stones, some cancers and other diseases sometimes make urine look red due to blood.
Foods such as beets and blackberries, as well as medications, could make urine take on a rosy hue. If these factors are ruled out, then it may be hematuria, or blood in the urine. A range of health issues can cause this, including urinary tract infections, an enlarged prostate, and bladder or kidney stones.
What's normal and how many times is too frequent to urinate? Most people pee about seven to eight times per day, on average. If you feel the need to pee much more than that, or if you're getting up every hour or 30 minutes to go, you might be frequently urinating.
The glucose urine test measures the amount of sugar (glucose) in a urine sample. The presence of glucose in the urine is called glycosuria or glucosuria. Glucose level can also be measured in other bodily fluids using a blood test or a cerebrospinal fluid test.
The issue, as mentioned in the study above, is that while urine color can be somewhat indicative of hydration status, there is not a linear relationship between actual hydration status and the color of your pee. Numerous other things can affect the color of your pee, including: Drinking alcohol.
Bright yellow pee, even as dark as amber, may be harmless, but it could be a sign that you're a little dehydrated or taking more vitamins than your body needs. You may want to check with your provider on what vitamins your body doesn't need as much so you can cut back.
According to the esteemed National Academies of Sciences, the recommended daily intake of water for women hovers around 2.7 liters, which translates to roughly 5-6 bottles of water. For men, the magic number is 3.7 liters – that's approximately 7-8 bottles to help you stay hydrated and performing at your best.
When you have not drank enough fluids your kidneys try to save as much water as they can and cause your urine to be darker in colour (more concentrated). Dark yellow urine is a sign that you are dehydrated and that you must drink more fluids to prevent dehydration.
Urine that is dark orange, amber, cola-coloured or brown can be a sign of liver disease. The colour is due to too much bilirubin building up because the liver isn't breaking it down normally. Swollen abdomen (ascites). Ascites happens because fluid is retained in the abdomen.