Everybody pees; that’s a fact. It’s something we do multiple times a day when the urge strikes us. But do you ever take a look at your urine?
It can tell you a lot about your health!
It’s important to know what your urine can tell you about your health.
Urine
The colour of your urine can give you a lot of information about your health. On average, we pee about one to two litres a day, divided over three to eight toilet visits. Of course, this depends on how much you drink during the day as well.
It’s very good to take a good look at your urine every now and then and to see what colour it has.
Your kidneys and urinary tract filter all toxins from your blood and these toxins leave your body via your urine.
The colour, amount and composition can, therefore, tell you a lot about your physical health. Do you drink enough, are you eating enough vitamins or have you caught something?
Colour
Healthy urine is usually clear and light yellow to bright yellow in colour. This is caused by a chemical called urochrome, which is constantly being produced. Does your pee have a different colour?
Find out what it might mean below:
Light yellow urine
If your urine is very light yellow in colour it could mean you drink too much water. If that’s the case, your urine is practically colourless.
This isn’t something to worry about, but this colour can also occur in diabetics or kidney patients. So, definitely keep an eye on it, especially if you have lowered your water intake and the colour remains light. In that case, you should contact your doctor.
Dark yellow urine
This often occurs when you’ve drunk too little or have sweated too much. Morning urine is often dark yellow in colour because at that point you haven’t drunk anything in a couple of hours. Make sure you drink enough water during the day!
Cloudy urine
Sometimes urine can be cloudy. This can have multiple different causes: it might be a bladder infection or it could be an uncommon condition called glomerulonephritis. If your urine is cloudy, it is wise to contact your doctor.
Brown-green urine color
This can be the result of coloured food products, but medicines can also cause this strange colour. Do you not take any medicines or are you in doubt about what might be causing this? Contact your doctor.
Red urine color
Red urine can be caused by eating beets or using a certain medicine, but it might also be that there’s blood in your urine. This can happen when you have a UTI or bladder infection but it can also be caused by something far nastier, like internal injury, kidney problems or cancer. Contact your doctor if you have red urine.
Brown urine color
Brown urine can indicate problems with the liver or gall bladder, like an inflammation of the liver. It also can indicate a blockage of the bile duct, fistula or a bladder infection. Always contact your doctor if this is happening.