Colours of Urine and their Causes
Watch our latest Healthy & Lifestyle video to learn about the different colours of the urine and what they mean.
Doctors’ call the normal colour of the urine “urochrome”. Urochrome Urine naturally has a yellow pigment (shade). For Example: If you are hydrated i.e. you have drunk enough water, then the urine would be light yellow. If you are dehydrated i.e. you have less water in the body, the urine would be amber. Sometimes the food or the medicines you eat can go through your digestive tract and the colour of the urine may change. Sometimes the colour of the urine shows a serious health condition for which you may need to visit the doctor.
Let’s see the different colours of the urine and what they mean
Clear
Clear Urine indicates that you are drinking more water than needed. Being hydrated is good but drinking more water than your body needs is also harmful. It removes the important minerals from the body. If the urine is sometimes clear, it is fine. But if the urine is always clear, then you need to lessen the amount of water.
Yellowish to Amber
Light yellow to deep amber colour is “normal / typical” urine. The colour of the urine will be diluted depending on the amount of water. Eating a lot of Vitamin – B can cause urine to appear neon yellow.
Red or Pink
Urines have red or pink if you eat food that is deep pink or magenta in colour. Example food such as blueberries, beetroot, etc. Mostly the colour is red or pink because of the food that you ate but sometimes health issues like kidney stone, tumors in the bladder etc may cause blood in the urine. If there is blood in the urine, please speak to your doctor.
Orange
If the urine appears orange, it could be because of dehydration. If the urine is orange and stools are light coloured then it may be because bile. Bile is a chemical that helps in digestion and is made in the liver. So if the liver has a problem then the bile gets mixed in the bloodstream. Early stages of Jaundice can also cause orange urine.
Blue or green
Blue or green urine can be caused by food colouring. Maybe because of the dyes used in medical tests for kidneys or bladder. Some bacterial infection can cause blue or green or indigo purple urine. Normally blue urine is rare and mostly linked to the food you eat.
Dark Brown
Dark brown urine is mostly due to dehydration. Sometimes dark brown urine is caused due to side effects of some medicines. Eating a lot of aloe or fava beans can cause dark brown urine. Dark brown urine may be because of liver problems.
Cloudy
Cloudy urine can be a sign of a urinary tract infection. It can also be a symptom of some diseases and kidney conditions. In some cases, cloudy urine is another sign of being dehydrated.
In most cases the change in colour of urine is because of dehydration and food or medicine that you ate. If the colour of the urine changes to pink, red, orange, blue, green, brown and cloudy and doesn’t return to normal in 2 – 3 days, please consult your doctor.
