You Need To Know: What Your Urine Says About Your Health

Urine is not something most people talk about, yet it can reveal a lot of things about the status of your body.
 

Every time you pee, you have the chance to learn something about yourself, from how hydrated you are to whether some of your vital organs may be showing signs of dysfunction.

Urine colour, odour and consistency can provide important clues about a person’s health. Your urine can reveal what you’ve been eating, how much you’ve been drinking, and what diseases you have.

To help people decode the colors showing up in their toilet bowl, the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio produced a helpful chart to help people know what urine colors, from transparent to yellow to pink, may indicate about a person’s health.

According to Dr. Daniel Shoskes, a urologist at Cleveland Clinic, many shifts in urine color can be explained simply by how hydrated your body is at any given moment, according to.
Before you flush, here are a few urine changes to look out for, and what they might be saying about your health.

No colour: If your urine is clear, like water, then it is likely to be a sign that you’re over-hydrated. It could also indicate you’ve ingested a diuretic, a substance found in coffee which forces the body to get rid of water.

Pale to dark yellow: The lighter the shade of yellow, the more hydrated a person is. As the colour darkens, one is recommended to drink more water.

Amber or honey: If your urine is a deep, golden yellow then your body isn’t getting enough fluid. In such cases, pour yourself a large glass of H20.

Syrup or brown: This colour could indicate liver or kidney problems. It could also just mean you’ve been gorging on aloe or fava beans. If drinking more water doesn’t change the brown colour, visit your GP.

Pink to reddish: You should visit a doctor immediately if your urine is pink. It could be traces of blood, which could mean kidney disease, prostate problems, urinary tract infections, kidney or bladder stones or even cancer. Less worrying, the colour could also indicate that you’ve had beetroot or blackberries.

Orange: Apart from dehydration, it could be caused by laxatives and chemotherapy drugs, as well as blood thinners. Food dyes, carrots or too much vitamin C can also cause an orange tint.


Do you check the colour of your urine? If you don’t, you probably should because it could hold vital clues about the state of your health.