I'm sure you don't give it much thought, but the color of your urine is important, and it can also turn out quite different. Urine is basically the body's way of eliminating waste, just like feces.
Interestingly, they range from transparent to yellow or brown and a rainbow of other shades, such as orange and even blue or green. There are a variety of reasons why it may have a different color. Each tone can give you a clue as to what might be going on internally.
What color is the urine? types of pee
clear or yellow
Water is the predominant component of urine. The color comes from a byproduct of blood cells called urobilin , which has a yellow tint.
Your hydration level will change your pee from clear to light yellow to dark yellow and even brown. For example, when you wake up after a night without drinking any fluids, it's usually dark. All of those are considered "normal" colors.
The clarity or yellowing of your urine can also be due to medications , your sleep habits , and what you're drinking . For example, if you're taking a diuretic to control your blood pressure, these medications work by removing water from your body and preventing water reabsorption in the kidneys.
Similarly, if you drink coffee in the morning, the diuretic nature of coffee can also make your urine appear clearer.
For a healthy person who has dark yellow (or even slightly brown) urine, this is probably not a cause for concern. You should just drink more water to improve hydration.
Brown
First, you could become dehydrated. Even a slight brown to yellow tinge to your urine can mean you need to rehydrate with fluids.
However, dark brown, oxidized, or cola-colored urine can be a sign of rhabdomyolysis , a breakdown of muscle tissue that releases a protein called myoglobin into the bloodstream, leading to possible kidney damage.
Rhabdomyolysis can be caused by a serious injury, but nowadays it's notorious for happening after particularly strenuous exercise (especially one your body isn't ready for).
Orange
Most of the time, the orange color is due to the use of certain medications . One of the most common is rifampin, an antibiotic that turns all bodily secretions orange.
Another is phenazopyridine, a medication used to treat symptoms of urinary tract infections such as frequency and burning. If you start taking one of these drugs, your doctor should warn you about this very rare side effect. It is likely that he will stay for a day or two.
Other benign causes include excessive consumption of orange-colored foods such as carrots.
However, orange or dark orange urine can also indicate liver problems . The liver's job is to break down bilirubin. This bilirubin passes into the stool, giving it a dark color. If you have this urine color along with pale stool, it could suggest that the liver isn't breaking down the bilirubin properly, and it's being excreted in the urine.
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red or pink
These are the most important colors that urologists are concerned about because we have to make sure it's not blood.
However, it could also be completely innocent. Did you go to a smoothie bar and order a drink made with beets? A small percentage of people have a genetic mutation that makes them more likely to develop red or pink urine after eating red-hued foods like beets, rhubarb, and blackberries.
Another relatively benign cause is " runner's hematuria ." This occurs when the bladder rubs against itself while running, causing blood to appear in the urine after exercise. If this happens to you, don't ignore it; see a doctor for an examination.
If there is a problem with your urinary system, you may also experience other symptoms. For example, if you have a kidney stone, you may also notice back pain (in the area above the kidney), frequent urination, or burning with urination.
A urinary tract infection can also involve burning during urination, fever, and urinary frequency.
Prostate problems can appear with visible blood in the urine, as well as with a decrease in urinary flow and problems in emptying the urine completely when urinating.
Finally, a pink or red color could be a sign of cancer . Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer in males assigned sex at birth. It often presents no symptoms except for a few drops of blood in the urine.
Blue
Blue or indigo dyes are sometimes given for certain medical procedures to test urine as it leaves the urinary tract. This effect can cause blue urine to persist hours after the procedure.
If you're Googling why your baby has blue urine, you should know that there's a very rare genetic metabolic disorder called " blue diaper syndrome ," which occurs when the intestines can't break down tryptophan properly, leading to blue urine that stains the diaper.
Green
Certain medications can cause green urine, as can eating asparagus . B vitamins can also contribute to this color. None of these causes are particularly serious.
But green urine can also be a sign of a bacterial infection , which is concerning. If it were a bacterial infection, you might also have a fever and perhaps milky urine.