What Your Urine Says About Your Health: Color, Odor, and More

Medically Reviewed

Your urine can tell you a lot about your health and your habits. Urine is produced when blood passes through the kidneys, which filter out excess waste and water. This waste travels through tubes known as ureters and is stored in the bladder until you urinate.

Urine is roughly 95 percent water, and the rest is composed of thousands of compounds — both inorganic and organic — exiting the body.

Certain changes in your urine or urine habits, either during or after urination, may indicate that you have a medical condition. These signs often include:

• Dark or discolored urine
• Cloudy urine
• Blood in urine
• Frequency of urination
• Pain during urination

The presence of abnormal amounts of certain chemicals, such as proteins, sugars, ketones, and others, can also help your healthcare provider diagnose and monitor various medical conditions.

Common Questions & Answers

When should I worry about my urine?

Changes in the smell and color of your urine are normal, but sometimes these changes can indicate a medical issue. If it becomes darker, cloudy, or if you see blood or experience pain when you urinate, there might be a problem.

What color is healthy urine?

Normal urine is mild or pale yellow — that’s an indication of appropriate hydration. Dark yellow, amber, or cloudy urine can indicate dehydration. Cloudy urine could also indicate a urinary tract infection.

Is clear urine good?

Clear urine is a sign of good hydration, but it doesn’t have to be clear to be considered normal. Check with your doctor if you notice a sudden change in the color or odor of your urine.

What color is your urine if your kidneys are failing?

Dark brown urine can be a sign of liver or kidney problems. Cloudy urine may signal kidney stones or kidney damage from diabetes. Blood in the urine may be a sign of kidney disease, stones, or cancer.

How many times should you urinate a day?

Diabetes, UTIs, and prostate issues might lead to frequent urination, but it’s not always a sign of a problem. Aging causes the bladder to lose some of its holding capacity. Large amounts of caffeine, a diuretic, may also be a cause.

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Editorial Sources and Fact-Checking

1. 10 Colors That Suggest Urine Trouble. UC San Diego Health. April 21, 2014.
2. Markt S, Nuttall E, Turman C, et al. Sniffing Out Significant “Pee Values”: Genome Wide Association Study of Asparagus Anosmia. BMJ. December 2016.
3. Urine Odor. Mayo Clinic. September 21, 2021.
4. Urine Odor. MedlinePlus. July 19, 2021.
5. What the Color of Your Pee Says About You. Cleveland Clinic. November 8, 2021.
6. Urine — Abnormal Color. MedlinePlus. July 26, 2021.
7. Dehydration. Mayo Clinic. October 14, 2021.
8. What Are the Symptoms of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) or Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)? National Institutes of Health. January 31, 2017.
9. Kidney Stones. MedlinePlus. December 8, 2016.
10. Diabetes Symptoms. American Diabetes Association.
11. Prostate Problems. National Institute on Aging. July 27, 2020.
12. Vaginitis. Mayo Clinic. December 22, 2021.
13. Blood in Urine (Hematuria). American Kidney Fund. April 12, 2022.
14. Blood in Urine (Hematuria). Mayo Clinic. October 15, 2020.
15. Michels T, Sands J. Dysuria: Evaluation and Differential Diagnosis in Adults. American Family Physician. November 1, 2015.
16. Urination — Painful. MedlinePlus. January 10, 2021.
17. Dysuria, Infection vs. Chemical (Child). Fairview Health Services.
18. Dysuria (Painful Urination). Cleveland Clinic. December 8, 2020.
19. Nocturia or Frequent Urination at Night. National Sleep Foundation. March 11, 2022.
20. Excessive or Frequent Urination. Merck Manual. May 2021.
21. What Is HCG? The Pregnancy Hormone. American Pregnancy Association.
22. Pregnancy Discomforts: When to Call the Doctor. Stanford Medicine.
23. Deleted, August 12, 2022.
24. Group B Strep Disease. Mayo Clinic. September 21, 2021.
25. Protein in Urine (Proteinuria). Mayo Clinic. May 5, 2022.
26. Protein in Urine (Proteinuria) Causes, Symptoms, Tests, and Treatments. American Kidney Fund.
27. Ketones in Urine. MedlinePlus. August 3, 2022.
28. Deleted, August 12, 2022.
29. Ketones Urine Test. UCF Health. November 20, 2017.
30. Simerville JA, Maxted WC, and Pahira JJ. Urinalysis: A Comprehensive Review. American Family Physician. March 15, 2005.
31. Nitrites in Urine. MedlinePlus. August 3, 2022.
32. Urinalysis. Cleveland Clinic. November 9, 2021.
33. Urinalysis (Urine Test). National Kidney Foundation.
34. Urinalysis. Mayo Clinic. October 14, 2021.
35. Cederbaum A. Alcohol Metabolism. Clinics in Liver Disease. November 2012.
36. Cannabinoid Screen and Confirmation (Urine). University of Rochester Medical Center.
37. Zezima K. States Move to Ban Fake Urine, a New Challenge for Drug Testing Amid an Abuse Epidemic. The Washington Post. April 7, 2018.
38. Maple Syrup Urine Disease. MedlinePlus. July 1, 2017.

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What the color of your pee says about your health

No one really wants to think about it, but peeing is a necessity of life – and health. And besides the benefit of feeling (literally) relieved when you urinate, the characteristics of your pee hold important clues about what’s going on in your body.

It’s pretty helpful, actually. Your pee can tell you when you’re well hydrated, or if you need to drink more water, and when something is off and it’s time to talk to your doctor.

Most of the time we just do our business, and the next thing we think about is washing our hands. But every now and then you may notice that something is different about your urine. Maybe it’s dark yellow and smells stronger than usual. Maybe it’s cloudy or it burned when exiting. When should you talk to a doctor?

For the record, no health topic is embarassing to doctors. But we get it – talking about what happens in the bathroom can feel awkward. We’re here to answer the question: What does my pee say about my health? We’ll cover how the urinary system works, how to tell if your pee is normal, and what to do when it’s not.

What is urine? How the urinary system works

Your urinary system has an important purpose – it filters waste and excess fluid from your blood, creating a byproduct called urine (or pee), then escorts it out of the body. Several different organs make up the urinary tract, and they work together in a specific order. Your urinary system includes two kidneys, two ureters, your bladder and urethra.

Kidneys

Your kidneys are two fist-sized organs located right below your ribcage on either side of your spine. Kidneys keep the body’s fluids filtered and balanced by removing liquid waste (called urea) and keeping water and important chemicals like sodium and potassium at the right levels. Each day, your kidneys filter an estimated 120-150 quarts of blood in order to balance fluids and remove waste. In total, your kidneys produce about 1-2 quarts of urine a day.

Ureters and bladder

After your kidneys do their work, the urine passes through your ureters (two thin tubes) and into your bladder. Located within your pelvis between your hip bones, your bladder is a balloon-like organ that stretches and expands when it fills with urine. It serves as a kind of holding tank for pee until it’s time to remove it. Because urine contains waste products and bacteria, it’s important to pee frequently. If pee is held too long, or if the bladder doesn’t fully empty when you go, bacteria have the opportunity to multiply, leading to a greater risk for infection.

Urethra

We can’t voluntarily control our kidneys, but we are able to control our bladder. So when we feel the presence of urine (the urge to pee) and decide that it’s the right time and place to go, we use our pelvic muscles to squeeze our bladder and move the urine out. This sends the urine into a connected tube called a urethra, which then leads out of the body so our pee can exit. Women and men both have a urethra, although their anatomical positioning is different.

Healthy urine is usually a pale to medium yellow color, it’s clear, and has a subtle pee odor. These characteristics tell you that you’re drinking enough water, and nothing is visibly abnormal.

When we’re dehydrated, our pee will smell strongly of ammonia and look dark yellow or amber in color because it hasn’t been diluted with enough water. Soon after you increase your water intake, you should notice that the color and smell of your pee becomes more normal again.

Take a look at your pee on a regular basis so you’ll know what’s normal for you and be able to act more quickly if something seems off.

Signs your pee isn’t normal

Pee can be abnormal for several reasons. Most of them aren’t a cause for concern, but sometimes it can be a symptom of a more serious issue. Here are some signs that your pee might not be healthy:

Dark yellow or amber pee

Dark yellow or amber-colored urine is highly concentrated, signaling that you’re very dehydrated and need to drink water as soon as possible. Even drinking a glass or two after noticing dark yellow pee can make a difference the next time you go. When your urine is back to a lighter yellow color, you’ll know you’re hydrated again.

Clear or colorless pee

Pee that’s completely colorless and looks like water is a sign that you’re overhydrated. (Yep, that’s a real thing.) Too much water in your system can dilute your body’s delicate balance of water, sodium and electrolytes. Being overhydrated can lead to something called water intoxication. Your kidneys can usually handle it if you happen to drink more water than usual (even a lot more than usual), but if water intake is excessive, it can lead to serious health problems. Severe cases of overhydration are rare, but if your electrolytes drop too quickly, it can be life-threatening.

Pink or red pee

Urine with a tinge of pink, red or rusty brown suggests that blood is present. When urine has blood in it it’s called hematuria. Hematuria can be caused by a variety of things, including kidney stones, kidney disease, a urinary tract infection (UTI), an injury to the kidney (often from impact during contact sports), an enlarged prostate, cancer or another condition. If you notice blood in your urine, don’t be alarmed, but make an appointment with your primary care doctor as soon as you can. They can run laboratory tests on your urine or refer you to a urologist to help diagnose what’s causing it.

Cloudy pee

When urine appears cloudy or milky in consistency, there can be many causes, including dehydration, kidney stones, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), UTIs or other changes to your health. Try drinking more water to see if that changes it back to a clear, light yellow. If that doesn’t help, talk to your doctor right away – especially if you have other symptoms like pain or a burning sensation when you urinate.

Pee that smells bad

Just like the symptoms above, a bad odor to your pee can have many causes. Some of these include dehydration (strong concentration of ammonia), certain foods (most familiar, asparagus), vitamins and supplements, or an underlying medical condition. If you’re well hydrated, you haven’t eaten asparagus recently and you aren’t taking vitamins that might be causing it, talk to your doctor right away.

Other symptoms when you pee

Aside from the color and odor of your urine, if you notice other symptoms like pain, a burning sensation, the sudden urge to pee, urine leaking or anything else that’s different – these could be signs of an underlying issue that might need timely treatment. Talk to your doctor about what you’re experiencing so you can get a diagnosis and treatment plan if needed.

Everyone goes on their own schedule, but generally, urinating 6-8 times in 24 hours is considered normal for someone who’s healthy, and isn’t pregnant. If you’re in the bathroom more often than that, you may be experiencing frequent urination.

Another condition that’s often mistaken for frequent urination, is overactive bladder (OAB). Overactive bladder is a separate condition that makes you feel like you have to pee more often than you need to, or you experience sudden strong urges to urinate.

A related condition involving the bladder is incontinence, which is involuntary urination that can result in leaking. Incontinence is more common as people get older but can also happen after childbirth or from other causes. Pelvic floor therapy can help.

Keep yourself (and your pee) healthy

Peeing is important – it’s how fluid waste leaves our body, and it keeps many of our other systems working smoothly. Here are some things to remember that can help you keep your urinary tract healthy (and the rest of you, too).

Drink plenty of water

Our bodies are made up of 50-60% water, depending on the person. And the water ratio in our blood is even higher, at 90%. That’s why it’s so important to drink enough water each day. Among many other benefits, staying hydrated regulates your temperature, helps you maintain a healthy blood pressure, delivers oxygen and nutrients to your cells, improves constipation and is, of course, essential to the urinary system.

So, how much water should we drink each day? For a generally healthy person, the recommended daily water intake is 4-6 glasses. Aim to drink enough to need to use the bathroom at least every few hours. If you have certain health conditions or take a diuretic medication, your doctor may recommend that you drink more water than average.

Exercise regularly

Physical activity has so many benefits to our overall health, from helping us maintain a healthy weight to improving how we manage stress. It’s even good for our urinary health. Regular exercise can help strengthen your pelvic floor muscles to give your urinary system more support and better muscle control. Exercise also helps our bodies metabolize food and fluids more efficiently and can prevent constipation.

Be mindful of your food, drinks and medications

Certain foods and drinks can irritate your bladder. Some of these include alcohol, caffeine, spicy foods, tomato-based foods, chocolate, acidic fruits (mainly citrus) and more.

Go when you need to go

When you feel the need to pee, don’t wait very long. The more time urine spends sitting in your bladder, the higher your chance for bacteria to grow and possibly lead to an infection.

Empty your bladder fully

For the same reason, always try to empty your bladder until nothing is left. When it’s emptied each time, there’s much less bacteria hanging around in your urinary tract, lowering your risk of infection.

Don’t strain to pee

Your bladder is designed to release urine very effectively simply by gently squeezing the muscles surrounding the bladder. There’s no need to bear down with your abdominal muscles the way one does for a bowel movement. Using more pressure can cause your pelvic muscles to tense and can lead to issues with incontinence. If you feel like you need to use more force to get your urine out, that could be a sign of a urinary problem and you should talk to your doctor.

Do pelvic floor exercises

Pelvic floor exercises like Kegels are small squeezing movements that can help strengthen your pelvic floor muscles – those are the ones supporting your bladder and other urinary functions. Strengthening these muscles can give you more control of your urinary and bowel functions, and can even relieve pelvic pain. Kegel exercises are sometimes described as pretending you need to pee, but then holding it in.

When to talk to a doctor about irregular urine

Pee isn’t the most fun topic, but if you pay attention, it can hold important clues about your health.

The next time you’re in the loo, try to remember the healthy pee chart. Once you’re more aware of what certain changes in your urine might mean, you’ll have a better idea about what your body is telling you. Sometimes it’s just a hint to drink more water, but if you notice changes like cloudiness, blood, a bad odor or anything else out of the ordinary, make it a priority to talk to your doctor. Whether it’s your primary care doctor, your OB-GYN doctor or your child’s pediatrician, they’re all there to help.

You can also get convenient care virtually for things like UTIs, plus nearly 60 other conditions. Virtuwell is a simple, convenient and affordable way to get online care for your whole family.

A shameless question: what can your urine tell about

Blue, green, orange

Sometimes you may notice that your urine has become somehow . .. iridescent. This is nothing special if the color is directly related to what you ate today. We explain with examples: if there was beetroot salad for lunch, and vinaigrette for dinner, urine will turn burgundy, if you ate a lot of greens, green beans, asparagus – green, if pumpkins and carrots – bright orange. And some antacids (drugs designed to neutralize stomach acid) can make it bluish.

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With a strong odor

Foods, vitamins (particularly B6 supplements) and medications can make urine smell more pungent than usual. It can also be caused by a lack of fluid in the body or dehydration, in which urine becomes more concentrated. On the other hand, diabetes, bladder infections, kidney infections, and liver failure can cause a strong and unpleasant odor. So it is definitely better to discuss the problem with your doctor.

Cloudy

Cloudy red, brownish, greenish, or red-spotted urine is a common symptom of a urinary tract infection. It usually occurs because bacteria enters the bladder or urethra, the tube that carries urine out of our body. Additionally, a burning sensation during urination may hint at a urinary tract infection. However, only a urologist can make a final diagnosis and prescribe treatment.

Very dark or very light

Dark urine (much darker than usual) most often indicates that a person is not drinking enough water. Recall that there is no prescribed two liters per day. But you must drink enough, guided by the signals of thirst. It is better if it is pure water without gas, but in general tea, juices, coffee, soups and water-rich vegetables and fruits are also considered.

If your urine is too light and even almost transparent, it can be both a feature of the body and the fact that you drink more water than your body needs.

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Foamy

Foamy urine may indicate that it contains more protein than usual – this is one of the early signs of damage to the small blood vessels in the kidneys. At first, this state of affairs leads to the fact that the body retains more salt, water and toxins than it needs, and then can lead to kidney failure. To understand if there is any cause for concern, the doctor should test your urine for the content of albumin protein in it.

On the other hand, foam in the urine can occur after eating too many protein foods (chicken and fish, milk and cheese, legumes, pumpkin seeds, red caviar, and so on). Yes, and corny because the jet was too strong.

Frequent or infrequent urination

If you run to the toilet too often, you may just be drinking too much. But if every trip to the toilet is accompanied by discomfort and pain, it may be a matter of cystitis, with which you definitely need to see a doctor. With rare urination, the same thing: you drink little – you write little. But if you have to push every time you go to the toilet, and the stream is too small, although you obviously drink enough, blockage of the ureters, kidney stones, blood clots, or something else may be to blame. Can you guess where to go with all this? That’s right, a specialist.

Blood in urine

If you see blood in your urine, make an appointment immediately. Although the cause may be fairly harmless (associated, for example, with too much physical activity or certain medications), a dangerous symptom should not be overlooked. Simply because it could be evidence of something serious, from sexually transmitted infections to kidney disease and even bladder cancer.

Author

Marina Levicheva

Lisa. ru editor

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How to determine pregnancy without a test

How to determine pregnancy without a test and what signs indirectly indicate that your beloved baby will be born soon? Of course, only a blood test can give a 100% guarantee, but the presence of certain signs may indicate its possible onset.

Classic signs of pregnancy

The most common early signs and symptoms may include

• Delayed menses. Problems with the regularity of the menstrual cycle may be associated with hormonal imbalance in the body. But if the delay arose for the first time, and before that the cycle was as accurate as a clock, then it is likely that you are pregnant.
• Early toxicosis with severe nausea and vomiting is the most common sign of an interesting situation, but not every woman has it.
• Pain in both breasts or enlargement. Nipples can become very sensitive and change color. Sometimes in the early stages, colostrum is released from them with slight pressure.
• Pain in the pelvic region, similar to menstruation. But this sign can also indicate such a serious pathology as an ectopic pregnancy.
• Increased amount of discharge from the genitals. This can usually be observed during ovulation. Normal discharge is clear and odorless. When a whitish tint or a curdled structure appears, thrush can also be assumed, which is a common problem for expectant mothers. But in this case, you can not do without treatment. During the period of bearing a child, it is necessary to protect your body as much as possible from any, even such a safe disease.
• Increased or vice versa reduced libido. Every woman experiences jumps in sexual desire in one direction or the other due to hormonal changes occurring in the body. Therefore, men should treat this with understanding, knowing that they have not become less loved, but these are just signs of pregnancy.
• Frequent urination, despite the fact that you do not drink more often and there are no inflammatory diseases of the genitourinary system. A similar phenomenon is associated with a slight relaxation of the sphincter of the bladder due to hormonal processes. And with the growth of the uterus and, accordingly, with the increase in pressure on the bladder, going to the toilet will become even more frequent.

Additional symptoms of pregnancy

There are less obvious signs that may occur during the first trimester. These include:

• Strange Desires . For example, at night I sharply wanted chocolate, and during the day – salted fish. Such desires may not be mere whims. If you want sour, then perhaps there is not enough vitamin C in the body. You want to gnaw on the wall with calcium deficiency, and sniff gasoline – with a lack of iron, anemia.
• Constant irritability, tearfulness. The flow of hormones in a woman’s body in the early stages can make her unusually emotional. So-called mood swings can be a clear sign of pregnancy.
• Bloating . Hormonal changes can cause feelings of fullness in the abdomen, as at the beginning of the menstrual cycle.
• Bloody discharge pale pink. This symptom is called implantation bleeding. This happens when a fertilized egg attaches to the lining of the uterus, about 10 to 14 days after conception. Usually occurs during the normal periods of the menstrual period. But not all women have such bleeding is a sign of a normal pregnancy. Therefore, in case of detection of deviations from the normal cycle, consult a gynecologist.
• Chair problems . Hormonal changes cause the digestive system to slow down, which can lead to constipation.
• Food aversions . When you are pregnant, you may become more sensitive to certain smells and your sense of taste may change.