Basically, the urine color chart can be a great indicator tool to detect early body dehydration signs to note. For example, if it’s colorless or light yellow, you’re well hydrated. However, if your urine is a dark yellow or amber color, you may be having some signs of dehydration.
Important to realize, that some people are at higher risk of dehydration than others. Including people who exercise at a high intensity (or in hot weather) for too long. As well as those with certain medical conditions (like kidney stones, bladder infection), are sick (fever, vomiting, diarrhea), pregnant, or breastfeeding. Or rather, they are trying to lose weight.
Overall, dehydration commonly affects those people who aren’t able to get enough fluids during the day. Older adults are also at higher risk. Bearing in mind, that as you get older, your brain may not be able to sense dehydration. Thus, it doesn’t send sufficient signals for thirst to the brain. As we aforementioned, by not drinking enough water, you’ll get dehydrated.
Meaning, that your body doesn’t have enough fluid to operate properly. But, Urine Color indications may vary from time to time. And, also, from each daily intake and overall health. Whereby, the eyes may be a window into the soul, but the toilet bowl is a window into the body. Turns out, you can learn a lot about what’s going on inside by examining what comes out.
What The Urine Color Chart Is All About
As a matter of fact, according to our urine color indications team, normal urine color ranges from pale yellow to deep amber. Whereas, the result of a pigment called urochrome and how diluted or concentrated the urine is. In reality, it’s become pretty standard advice to keep an eye on what you leave behind when you pee.
And to aim for a light lemonade color as a sign of optimal hydration. Notably, pigments and other compounds in certain foods and medications can change your urine color. For instance, beets, berries, and fava beans are among the foods most likely to affect color.
Above all, many over-the-counter and prescription medications give urine vivid tones, such as red, yellow, or greenish-blue. In addition, unusual urine color can be a sign of disease. For example, deep red to brown urine is an identifying characteristic of porphyria, a rare, inherited disorder of red blood cells.
What is the Standard Urine Color?
The standard color of urine is referred to by doctors as “urochrome.” Urine naturally carries a yellow pigment. When you’re staying hydrated, your urine will be a light yellow, close-to-clear color.
If you’re getting dehydrated, you’ll notice that your urine is becoming a deep amber or even light brown. Different pigments in the food you eat or medication that you take can be carried through your digestive tract and change the color of your urine.
Sometimes your urine color can be a sign of a health condition that you need to address.
Depending on what you eat, any medications you’re taking, and how much water your drink, urine colors can vary. Many of these colors fall on the spectrum of what “normal” urine can look like. But, there are cases where unusual urine colors may be a cause for concern.
Food, Conditions & Medicine that May affect Color
In reality, the change in urine color can indicate which food you have eaten. Including medicine or supplement you took, or a medical problem.
Foods that May change the Urine Color include:
- Dark yellow or orange: carrots
- Green: asparagus
- Pink or red: beetroot, blackberries, rhubarb
- Brown: fava beans, rhubarb
Medicines and vitamins that can change the Urine Color include:
- Yellow or yellow-green: cascara, sulfasalazine, the B vitamins
- Orange: rifampicin, sulfasalazine, the B vitamins, vitamin C
- Pink or red: phenolphthalein, propofol, rifampicin, laxatives containing senna
- Green or blue: amitriptyline, cimetidine, indomethacin, promethazine, propofol, triamterene, several multi-vitamins
- Brown or brownish-black: levodopa, metronidazole, nitrofurantoin, some antimalarial agents, methyldopa, laxatives containing cascara or senna
Medical conditions that can change the Urine Color include:
- Yellow: concentrated urine caused by dehydration
- Orange: a problem with the liver or bile duct
- Pink or red: blood in the urine (see below), hemoglobinuria (a condition linked to hemolytic anemia), myoglobinuria (a condition linked to the destruction of muscle cells)
- Deep purple: porphyria, a rare inherited red blood cell disorder
- Green or blue: urinary tract infection may cause green urine if caused by Pseudomonas bacteria; familial hypercalcemia, a rare genetic condition, can cause blue urine
- Brown or dark brown: blood in the urine (see below), a liver or kidney disorder
If the urine appears cloudy or murky, it may be a sign of urinary tract infection or kidney stones.
Below are more elaborate indication factors that may affect the urine color.
Red or Pink Urine Color
Similarly, despite its alarming appearance, red urine isn’t necessarily serious. Red or pink urine can be caused by:
- Blood. Factors that can cause urinary blood (hematuria). Such as urinary tract infections, enlarged prostate, cancerous and noncancerous tumors, kidney cysts, long-distance running, and kidney or bladder stones.
- Foods. Beets, blackberries, and rhubarb can turn urine red or pink.
- Medications. Rifampin (Rifadin, Rimactane), an antibiotic often used to treat tuberculosis, can turn urine reddish-orange — as can phenazopyridine (Pyridium), a drug that numbs urinary tract discomfort, and laxatives containing senna.
Orange Urine Color
In the same way, orange urine can result from:
- Medications. Medications that can turn urine orange. Such as the anti-inflammatory drug sulfasalazine (Azulfidine); phenazopyridine (Pyridium); some laxatives; and certain chemotherapy drugs.
- Medical conditions. In some cases, orange urine can indicate a problem with your liver or bile duct. Mostly, if you also have light-colored stools. Dehydration, which can concentrate your urine and make it much deeper in color, can also make your urine appear orange.
Blue or Green Urine Color
Notably, blue or green urine can be caused by:
- Dyes. Some brightly colored food dyes can cause green urine. Dyes used for some tests of kidney and bladder function can turn urine blue.
- Medications. A number of medications produce blue or green urine. Such as amitriptyline, indomethacin (Indocin, Tivorbex), and propofol (Diprivan).
- Medical conditions. Familial benign hypercalcemia is a rare inherited disorder. Not to mention, it is sometimes called blue diaper syndrome. Because children with the disorder have blue urine. Green urine sometimes occurs during urinary tract infections caused by Pseudomonas bacteria.
Dark Brown or Cola Urine Color
Important to realize, that brown urine can result from:
- Food. Eating large amounts of fava beans, rhubarb or aloe can cause dark brown urine.
- Medications. A number of drugs can darken the urine. Such as the antimalarial drugs chloroquine and primaquine, the antibiotics metronidazole (Flagyl) and nitrofurantoin (Furadantin), and laxatives. Whereby containing cascara or senna, and methocarbamol — a muscle relaxant.
- Medical conditions. Some liver and kidney disorders and some urinary tract infections can turn urine dark brown.
- Extreme exercise. In the same way, muscle injury from extreme exercise can result in pink or cola-colored urine and kidney damage.
White, Cloudy, or Murky Urine Color
By the same token, urinary tract infections and kidney stones can cause urine to appear cloudy or murky.
Some Risk Factors to Put into Considerations
Discolored urine that isn’t the result of foods or medications could be caused by a medical condition that affects urine color.
However, factors that put you at risk of medical conditions that can affect urine color include:
- Age. Remarkably, tumors of the bladder and kidney, which can cause blood in the urine, are more common in older people. Whereas, men older than 50 occasionally have urinary blood due to an enlarged prostate gland.
- Family history. As a matter of fact, a family history of kidney disease or kidney stones makes it more likely that you’ll develop these problems. Both can cause blood in the urine.
- Strenuous exercise. Of course, distance runners are most at risk, but anyone who exercises vigorously can have urinary bleeding.
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