What Does Urine Color Say About Your Health

What Does Urine Color Say About Your Health

The color of your urine can be one of the single most important things you should be thinking about when it comes to your health. While many people might never think to look (or realize how important it can be to check), there are many things the color of your urine can say about your health - and in fact, it's one of the most commonly searched health questions there is.

A chance in the color of your urine is one of the first things someone might notice about their own health. Even if you aren't actively paying attention, you'll surely notice if there's a sudden and drastic change: Depending on the color of your urine, it might indicate different things - either temporary things like medication or diet that causes these changes, or temporary conditions (like a routine infection) or chronic ones.

Urine Color & Health

Urine color is pretty important: Any sudden changes should mean that you see your doctor depending on what it might indicate, especially if you experience a change in the shade of your urine over a long period of time.

There's nothing embarrassing about looking: In fact, everyone should be encouraged to check on a regular basis. Changes in your urine can be an indicator that you have a temporary or chronic condition (and your urine might be one of the first ways to spot it).

Take note. Here's what some of the most common urine color changes can indicate when it comes to your health.

Blue, Purple or Neon-Like

If your urine ends up a shocking color that seems like it would belong in a movie instead of emerging from a person, then it can be caused by any number of pigmentation that can be found in both prescription and over-the-counter medications - and also certain foods and drinks. (Energy drinks and brightly colored ones are some of the most common culprits.)

In the majority of cases where urine appears colors like blue, purple or neon-like, it's not much of a cause for concern and the symptom is likely to go away as soon as the medication has worked out of the body (or the food element has passed entirely through).

Does it require a doctor's appointment? Only if it keeps happening.

Red

Red urine is one of the scariest things someone can experience: If you came to this list with slight fear, you're not alone. Strangely, red urine isn't the most concerning that you can experience - while many people might assume that red-colored urine is blood, it can be caused by pigmentation or colorant in medication or natural colorants found in food.

If you can tie it to a food-related cause, you're in the clear and likely have no reason to worry: With hydration, it should return back to normal.

See a doctor where red urine continues or appears without any causative obvious dietary factors present: Where it might be blood, it can indicate damage to the kidneys or a severe infection.

Dark Yellow to Orange

Dark yellow to orange urine is one of the more concerning colors to be found on the list. Where your urine appears with an orange or dark yellow shade, it might very well be caused by colorant or medication if you can remember taking something recently that might have caused this - but if you can't, it can indicate any number of things, most of which are serious.

Dark yellow urine might indicate that you have a severe infection, an underlying kidney condition or it could additionally mean that you are dehydrated: Temporary conditions or medication affecting the liver and kidneys can also sometimes cause this effect.

See your doctor for any dark-colored urine that doesn't go away with time and hydration. Anywhere it can indicate a chronic condition, it's better to speak to your doctor sooner rather than later - and a simple noninvasive urine test can establish how much cause for concern you might have.

In the case that this symptom is caused by a medication you are taking, speak to your doctor to find out if adjustments need to be made.

Containing Blood

In most cases, urine that contains blood is unlikely to be a full stream of blood as people might imagine, but instead "parts" of blood mixed in with urine - and obviously spotted as such, usually distinguishable from what you would see if you were to have beetroot as a cause (mentioned earlier on in this article).

If your urine contains blood, it might point to a temporary cause: This is still a reason to see your doctor, especially if you urinate blood more than once.

This can be serious and might be an indicator of a serious underlying condition. Speaking to your doctor about it establishes a line of communication - and could mean that something easy to treat is spotted early enough in the condition for it to be treated effectively and immediately.

Cloudy

Cloudy urine isn't something to worry about in most cases: instead, cloudy urine can indicate the presence of a standard bladder or urinary tract infection in the body - but might also indicate something more serious if it doesn't go away after treatment.

Again, the best thing that you can do in this case is to call on your doctor for their advice. Where it's an infection of some sort, it's likely a standard and easy-to-treat infection that can be fixed with a course of antibiotics - and if it's something more serious, speaking to your doctor gives you the chance to spot it early on.

Additionally, there are some types of medications that might cause cloudy urine, too: For these, you're best off seeing your doctor, especially where you have started or stopped new medication recently enough to have caused this.

Clear

Clear urine is normal, but too clear urine for a long period of time can be an indicator that you're hydrating too much - and you might reach the point where you are losing essential minerals through your urine that would have been better off inside the body.

Be careful to over-hydrate: It turns out that it can be pretty bad for the loss of minerals and salts, which is what happens with the opposite of dehydration, too.