What hint does urine color give you?
Normal urine color ranges from pale yellow to deep amber. Pigments and other compounds in certain foods and medications can change your urine color.
Beets, berries and fava beans are among the foods most likely to affect the color.
Many over-the-counter and prescription medications give urine vivid tones, such as red, yellow or greenish blue.
An unusual urine color can be a sign of disease. For instance, deep red to brown urine is an identifying characteristic of porphyria, a rare, inherited disorder of red blood cells.
Symptoms
Normal urine color varies, depending on how much water you drink. Fluids dilute the yellow pigments in urine, so the more you drink, the clearer your urine looks. When you drink less, the color becomes more concentrated. Severe dehydration can produce urine the color of amber.
But urine can turn colors far beyond what's normal, including red, blue, green, dark brown and cloudy white.
Seek medical attention if you have:
- Visible blood in your urine.
- Dark or orange urine.
Urine color and various diseases
- Discolored urine is often caused by medications, certain foods or food dyes.
- In some cases, though, changes in urine color can be caused by specific health problems.
The color categories here are approximate, because what looks like red to you might look like orange to someone else.
Red or pink urine
Despite its alarming appearance, red urine isn't necessarily serious. Red or pink urine can be caused by:
- Urinary tract infections
- Enlarged prostate
- Cancerous and noncancerous tumors
- Kidney cysts
- Kidney or bladder stones
- Long-distance running
- Beets, blackberries and rhubarb
- Certain medications.
Orange urine
Orange urine can result from:
- Medications.
- Medical conditions. Liver or bile duct problems.
- Dehydration.
Blue or green urine
Blue or green urine can be caused by:
- Dyes. Some brightly colored food dyes can cause green urine.
- Dyes used for some tests of kidney and bladder function can turn urine blue.
- Medications.
- Familial benign hypercalcemia.
- Green urine sometimes occurs during urinary tract infections caused by pseudomonas bacteria.
Dark brown or cola-colored urine
Brown urine can result from:
- Food. Eating large amounts of fava beans, rhubarb or aloe.
- Medications.
- Some liver and kidney disorders.
- Some urinary tract infections.
- Extreme exercise.
Cloudy or murky urine
Urinary tract infections and kidney stones can cause urine to appear cloudy or murky.
Source:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/urine-color/symptoms-causes/syc-20367333
