Rarely anyone gives any thoughts on the color and consistency of their urine, but you should know that the smell, consistency and color of this liquid can say a lot about the state of your health. Urine consists of 95% water and other components such as urea, creatinine, potassium, dissolved ions and inorganic and organic compounds. The usual color of the liquid is yellow due to the presence of urobilin, a waste product that appears due to the breakdown of old red blood cells.
Here’s what the different color of your urine means:
- Transparent
Colorless urine is a sign of overhydration, which can water down electrolytes in your body and cause chemical imbalance.
- Light yellow
This is the normal color of the urine and indicates that you’re well hydrated.
- Cloudy
Cloudy urine may be a sign of a bladder infection. The cloudy color comes from the extra mucus, tissues and proteins that are broken down and coalesce in the body.
- Medium yellow
This is a sign of dehydration, so you should increase your water intake immediately.
- Dark yellow
A dark yellow color means serious dehydration. Start drinking something immediately (preferably water or tea)! Dark yellow urine color might also be a side-effect of excess vitamin B intake.
- Orange
Orange color urine means that there’s too much bilirubin in your body which is a byproduct of old red blood cells breakdown. Orange urine color could also appear as a result of a gallstone obstructing the bile duct. It could also indicate liver disease, or appear as a result of taking some urinary tract infections medications.
- Pink
Although your urine may turn pink as a result of beet consumption, it could also mean that there’s some blood in your urine, which is never a good sign. If your urine has suddenly turned pink, we suggest you visit your urologist in order to make sure there’s nothing wrong.
- Darker pink
This is an indication of more than a drop of blood in your urine and may be caused by bladder infection or cancer. Another cause might be kidney or bladder stones. Whatever the cause, it needs to be resolved sooner rather than later.
- Dark pink
Dark pink urine means that there’s too much blood in your urine, and indicates that the bleeding has been left untreated for a while. In many cases, dark pink urine turns out to be caused by cancer, so you want to check the symptom at a doctor right away.
- Brown
Certain medications such as the antimalarial chloroquine or the antibiotic metronidazole can turn your urine color to brown. However, this color often indicates liver and kidney disorder as well as too much exercise. When working out, your muscles use myoglobin for energy, so if you’re exercising frequently, it can leak into your bloodstream and get to your urine. If you notice your urine color has changed to brown, take a myoglobin test at a doctor as excess myoglobin can result in kidney failure.
- Blue or green urine
Eating a diet rich in foods full of synthetic dyes is the usual cause for blue or green urine. The jello-o-like urine may also be a result of medications such as Uribel as the drug contains a compound called methylene blue. Blue or green urine is usually nothing to be concerned of, but make sure to drink a lot of water as well in order to dissolve the color.
Look at the chart below to see what your urine color tells about your health:
