What does your pee say about you and your health? Urine, your body’s liquid waste, can give a clue about what’s going on inside your body. Details such as its color, odor and how often you pass can give hints about your health.
Food, medications and certain health conditions can affect your pee’s color. Knowing which color changes are affected by these factors can save you from unnecessary worries and give you early warnings about your health.
Get to know what the color of your urine means.
- Pale straw color/transparent yellow– Normal pee should be the color of a pale straw or transparent yellow.
- No color or transparent– A colorless pee indicates that you’re taking in too much water.
- Amber or honey– An amber or honey color of urine implies that you’re not consuming enough water and might be a bit dehydrated. You need to drink water soon.
- Pink to reddish– This color is expected if you recently consumed blueberries, beetroot or rhubarb, If otherwise, it could be due to blood loss, enlarged prostate, cancer, infection, kidney stones or cysts. However, a pink to reddish urine can also appear after a long-distance run.
- Color of syrup or molasses– This could be caused by extreme dehydration or may be a sign of liver diseases like hepatitis and cirrhosis.
- Bright orange or yellow– If you’re passing bright orange or yellow urine, it may be due to the supplements you’re taking particularly vitamin B and beta-carotene supplements.
- Green or blue– This color is most likely caused by food coloring as well as methylene blue often used in diagnostic test and drugs. Antihistamines, antibacterials, anti-inflammatories, anti-depressants and even nausea drugs can also trigger a blue or green urine. Hartnup disease and Blue diaper syndrome, which are rare genetic conditions, may also cause this.
- Frothy-like– Consuming protein supplements or powders, which make you produce excess protein, makes your pee frothy. If the frothiness gets worse or doesn’t go away, see a doctor immediately.