The color of your urine can indicate the state of your health. The color of your pee can speaks volumes – whether you’re drinking enough water or not, the kind of food you’re eating and sometimes, can even let you know about some serious health problems.
The color of urine comes from a pigment called urochrome. Depending on the concentration of urine and your health, the color of urine differs. Before flushing, check the color to understand the significance and find out whether you’re in the best of health or not.Check out this list of pee colors to see what yours is saying:
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Colorless
If your pee is absolutely colorless, don’t be too happy. It might mean that you are over-hydrated. Clear as water pee can be one of the health indications for diabetes. Using diuretics i.e. drugs which force your body to get rid of extra water can make your pee colorless.Colorless urine is also an indication that less waste is being passed out of your body.
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Pale to dark yellow
The ‘healthy’ color that indicates you’re well-hydrated is pale yellow. As the color becomes darker, it signifies your water intake is less and when it’s very dark, you should start drinking more water.
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Honey or amber
If the color of your pee is the color of honey, it means you have to up your water intake.
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Bright fluorescent yellow
Shocked to see this fluorescent yellow color in your loo? Not to worry, this is because of theVitamin B that you have been having. Riboflavin becomes fluorescent when exposed to UV light and thus you see the bright yellow color.
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Green
Different pee colors reveal surprising facts about your health. Green food color and asparagus can turn your pee green. But your pee can turn green due to diarrhea and bile and pus from urinary tract infections. If don’t have any of these, and haven’t eaten anything green in color, then you must consult a doctor.
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Brown
Fava beans, rhubarb and aloe could make your pee color brown. It could indicate dehydration, kidney and liver problems. If the color doesn’t change from brown to yellow after drinking water, you should consult a doctor. Sometimes, brown pee is due to certain medications such as some antibiotics, laxatives and muscle relaxants.
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Blue
The blue color is due to ingesting food or medicines which use blue dye. Blue is not associated with any health issue.
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Orange
Orange color pee tells you that you might be severely dehydrated or that there could be a problem with your bile duct or liver. If your pee color is matches the color of a popular soft drink, it could also be due to something you ate like carrot juice or carrots or vitamin C. Some blood thinners, laxatives and chemotherapy medicines.
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Murky or cloudy
Murky or cloudy urine is can be due to urinary tract infections and kidney stones. Chyluria is another reason for urine being murky or white. It is a condition commonly seen in the Indian and African sub-continents.
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Pink or red
Pink or red colored pee can be because of those beets or blackberries or rhubarb that you have been eating. But it could indicate something quite serious too. If your pee is pinkish or reddish in hue, it could be due to the presence of blood. Blood in your urine may be due to bladder or kidney stones, urinary tract infections, tumors, some kidney disease or lead or mercury poisoning. You must get your urine test done and consult a doctor, if the color is not due to food. Some antibiotics and laxatives could also be the reason for pinkish colored pee.
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Black
Black pee is usually because of black food color or dye. But if you haven’t eaten anything black in color, then it could be something serious and you must see a doctor.
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Purple
The color purple is mainly due to gram negative bacteria and is resolved after treatment with antibiotics.
Pee color is a good indicator of the status of your health. Don’t be in a hurry to hit the flush the next time you pee as you might miss important signals the color might be giving you.