What does the color of urine indicate about health?

Urine is made up of excess water, electrolyte salts, and other waste products. The kidneys produce urine, which flows into the bladder, and then expels it. A full bladder makes you feel like you have to go to the bathroom.

Mark Ellerkmann, director of the Department of Urology at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore (USA), explains, when filtering the blood, the kidneys remove toxins and excess water to form urine. So, what does the color of urine indicate?

Yellow

If your body is sufficiently hydrated, your urine will be clear or light yellow. This has to do with maintaining fluid balance in the body, says Dr. Ellrkmann. He said: “We don’t want to lose water, but we also don’t want to be overwatered. The kidneys work to create that balance.”

When the body is sufficiently hydrated, the urine becomes clearer and brighter in color. When dehydrated, the kidneys retain fluid, and then the urine becomes darker in color.

“I advise patients to drink enough water so that their urine is light yellow, but the amount of water varies from person to person.” Jason Kim, Department of Urology at Renaissance Medical School, said.

Orange

One of the most common causes for orange urine is medication. A side effect of medications prescribed for urinary tract infections is an orange-red color of urine. This is a sign that the medicine is working and that change should go away when you stop taking it. Some laxatives and chemotherapy have similar effects. Taking a lot of vitamins also produces bright orange or yellow urine.

Blue or green

Some anesthetics cause urine to appear blue. For people who are undergoing a medical procedure, doctors sometimes use drugs that make urine blue. Eating foods with dyes is also easy to cause this change.

Brown

If you are dehydrated, your urine is more likely to be brown because it is too concentrated. But if you still drink water regularly, the reason will be that you have recently eaten a lot of black raspberries. When it does, the color change of urine is harmless.

Besides, some liver and kidney disorders, as well as urinary tract infections, can cause urine to turn dark brown.

Opaque

Cloudy urine and a burning sensation or difficulty urinating are signs of a urinary tract infection.

Dark or red color

Red urine can be caused by eating some vegetables with vitamin B. In addition, there is blood in the urine due to some diseases related to the bladder and kidneys.

Blood in the urine is never normal and signals a condition health such as kidney stones, cancer, urinary tract infections, kidney and bladder diseases.