Human urine is an important and useful diagnostic tool in medicine. Its color, density and smell will "say" a lot about your state of health. Urinalysis can be done without spending a dime. In addition, it will help to accurately indicate urinary tract infections and kidney diseases.
Visual examination of the patient's urine has been used by doctors for a very long time. Before the beginning of our era, the Greeks understood the full value of this analysis. And European doctors began to regularly conduct this diagnosis in the Middle Ages.
In this article we will find answers to questions about what normal color of urine is in a healthy person, and what are the deviations from the norm.
What is urine?
Urine is, from a medical point of view, a by-product fluid that contains substances that are unnecessary for the body. It is secreted by the kidneys and during urination is excreted through the urethra. In other words, urine is one of the types of human waste.
Consistency, smell and color are often indicators of your lifestyle and health status. Each of these signs can vary depending on what you ate or drank, or on what disease you have discovered (all this affects the color of the urine of a healthy person).
Urine contains more chemicals than saliva or cerebrospinal fluid. Due to this, in its analysis, one can reveal countless informational details: the state of the kidneys, liver, stomach and pancreas, urethra, as well as the degree of exposure to harmful microorganisms. With this knowledge, doctors are one step closer to “catching” potentially catastrophic health complications before the disease becomes chronic.
Characteristics of Healthy Urine
A urine sample, without signs of any disease, has several characteristics:
- yellow color;
- smell: absent;
- the pH is in the range from 4.8 to 7.5;
- the content of a small amount of protein and glucose;
- the absence of ketones, hemoglobin (from the blood), bilirubin (from the bile of the liver) or its oxidized products (biliverdin);
- lack of white blood cells or nitrites.
What color is urine in a healthy person?
Urine gets its yellow color from a pigment called urochrome. This shade usually varies from pale yellow to dark amber, depending on the concentration.
Beets, blackberries, rhubarb, horse beans and other berries are the main products that affect the color of human urine. And excessive consumption of carrots will lead to the formation of an orange tint. While taking certain oral medications, the color of the urine of a healthy person may turn green or blue. Often, vitamin preparations make it brighter. A disease called porphyria can “color” urine red.
But sometimes a discoloration becomes a marker of the appearance of various diseases. We carefully consider the main "unhealthy" shades of urine, and also find out what are the causes of their occurrence.
Colorless
When taking a large amount of liquid, the normal color of the urine of a healthy person becomes almost colorless. Excessive consumption of alcohol, coffee drinks, and green tea also causes it to discolor.
Clear urine is a byproduct of diabetes. This disease occurs when the body produces insufficient insulin, while glucose levels begin to rise, and excess sugar is excreted in the urine. A complete blood count will also confirm abnormal glucose levels.
A colorless hue can also indicate the occurrence of such a rare disease as diabetes insipidus, which affects the production of antidiuretic hormone that regulates fluid retention in the kidneys. People with such abnormalities often develop extreme dehydration and electrolyte imbalance.
Orange
This shade indicates not only that you need to consume more fluids during the day, but also about the development of serious diseases.
Sometimes the color of the urine of a healthy person (density and concentration are evaluated separately) becomes orange due to the presence of bilirubin. If its level is abnormally high, this indicates obstruction of the bile flow in the liver, liver disease or an increased rate of destruction of red blood cells, which is associated with the appearance of jaundice. If you shake the urine, it will help to determine which pigment is in it: bilirubin forms a yellow foam.
An orange color with a pink tint appears due to the crystallization of uric acid, as well as due to the occurrence of acute and chronic nephropathy, kidney stone disease.
Fever or sweating leads to the formation of dark urine.
Many drugs, such as dehydrators and antibiotics, turn the shade into a bright tangerine. The excessive consumption of carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, due to the high content of carotene in foods, also contributes to this.
Vitamin C and riboflavin create the same effect.
Red
When the color of the urine of a healthy person acquires a red tint, this indicates the presence of red blood cells, hemoglobin and myoglobin (appears from the breakdown of muscle cells).
Hemoglobin may indicate the appearance of a disease such as Nutcracker syndrome, which leads to constriction of the veins in the kidneys, the destruction of blood cells, accompanied by severe anemia.
Injuries resulting from increased training, when muscles are significantly damaged, create an increased level of myoglobin in the urine.
A red tint may appear due to the use of drugs with phenolphthalein. Rhubarb, beets and blackberries create the same effect.
Red urine is also a symptom of mercury poisoning. Porfiry disease and the use of drugs such as warfarin, ibuprofen, rifampicin, etc., give a reddish tint.
Pink
The color of the urine of a healthy person (the norm is described above) acquires a pink tint with excessive consumption of sleeping pills and alcoholic beverages.
The addition of a large amount of beets, blackberries or other dark red foods to the food also results in a pink color.
The specific smell of urine, pink color, chills, pain in the lower abdomen and in the back indicate a urinary tract infection.
Blue
Such a rare shade is often the result of an organism’s reaction to drugs such as Viagra and methylene.
People with blue diaper syndrome have impaired ability to break down and absorb the amino acid tryptophan, which leads to its mass elimination through urine, staining it in blue.
Consuming food with a blue dye produces the same effect.
Green
The color of the urine of a healthy person acquires a green tint when a pseudomonas bacterial infection or urinary tract infection occurs in the body.
The pigment biliverdin, which appears in the urine, is a likely indicator of the appearance of diseases in the liver and kidneys. In order to confirm its presence, you need to slightly shake the urine sample, then a green foam appears.
Chlorophyll dietary supplements also create a dark green color.
Purple
A deep purple hue indicates renal failure, as well as a high concentration of waste in the blood.
This color may be the result of urinary tract infections.
Disease of porphyria leads to abnormal accumulation of porphyrins in the body, which stain the urine red, which darkens to violet upon contact with light.
Brown and black
The color of the urine of a healthy person (photo above) takes on a dark brown hue due to the appearance of excess bilirubin and oxidized red blood cells, indicating the appearance of functional abnormalities in the liver.
People with cirrhosis of the liver, hepatitis or Wilson's syndrome, remove urine with a brown tint. Phenol poisoning has the same effect.
Black urine is not uncommon after receiving an intramuscular injection of iron.
White
Cloudy urine with a pungent odor is often a symptom of urinary tract and kidney infections, and may also indicate the appearance of acute glomerulonephritis, infections in the vagina, cervix, or external urethra.
Milk color is also due to the presence of red blood cells or mucus.
Calcium and phosphorus, which are found in some drugs, stain urine in white. The consumption of large quantities of milk leads to the same effect.
Urinary tuberculosis also contributes to the formation of a white tint.
In the end, it is worth noting that the color of urine is important for identifying various diseases. However, more information is needed to identify the exact problem. The color of urine is only part of the “puzzle” and a good starting point in the study of the human body. And with any change, it is worth contacting a specialist.