Why is My Pee Yellow?
THE BASICS OF URINE COLOR
Have you ever wondered why your urine is yellow or different shades of yellow? What about different colors? Not just colors, some people often wonder why their pee smells the way it does. This site is about the basics of urine. You don't need to be embarrassed. Read on and learn all about one of the most basic necessities of life!
“There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.” WILL ROGERS
URINE BASICS
WHAT IS URINE?
Urine is the liquid waste excreted by the kidneys. People usually assume that urine is nasty but urine was once historically used for washing, mouthwash, or drinking. In reality, urine is made of water and wastes. Over 95 percent of Urine is just water and the other four percent is urea waste such as salt. Your urine is virtually yellow in color because of bile pigments. Bile is produced by the liver to aid in digestion. When it is complete doing its work, the bile is reduced and that's where the color comes from. If you drink a lot of water, the urine will be more pale. If you are sweating a lot or drinking too little, the urine will be characteristically darker in color. The darkest urine is usually during your first "pee" of the day, this is due to collection of waste through the night, thus making the pigment darker.
Image is Creative Commons, Clip Art
“Beer contains Vitamin Pee”
URINE IS YELLOW BECAUSE....?
Doctors advise that pale yellow to dark amber is the color of a normal urine. However, it is an ideal scenario when most people may have normal urine. Various factors can change the color of the urine and the color change may be attributed to certain food sources, medications or some diseases. Most of the time, the urine color change is of a mild nature and does not necessarily has to be a symptom of any kind of disease. As already mentioned, numerous types of foods, supplements and dyes are primarily responsible for bringing a change in the urine color. The color chart below may be helpful in some circumstances but is only a guide so you can speak with your Physician. If your urine is questionable to you, it would be best to seek information from your Doctor. Urine color change during pregnancy is common with almost all women. Some color may not be considered severe, however one may never be completely certain. There might be incidents where blood may occur in urine during pregnancy. So, it is essential for the expecting mother to visit a qualified Physician and inform about any urine color change. It is a very important observation that if it is almost colorless then this might be a sign of diabetes. The problem with trying to diagnose diabetes, however, just by the color of your urine may not be accurate if you drink a lot of water. In that case, your urine could be almost colorless anyway. Leave the diagnosis of diabetes up to your Doctor if you suspect that something is wrong. This is always better than trying to diagnose yourself!
Image from Creative Commons, in the Public Domain
URINE COLOR CHART - This chart is in the Public Domain
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“The more you cry, the less you have to pee.”
Austin Powers and The Peeing Fountain - That Asparagus Smell!
CAN YOU SMELL IN YOUR PEE THAT YOU'VE EATEN ASPARAGUS?
Only 33% of the population can smell in their urine that they've eaten asparagus. Let's take our own poll!
“I drink too much. The last time I gave a urine sample it had an olive in it.” RODNEY DANGERFIELD
HOW TO HAVE HEALTHY PEE!
This is really very simple and almost all Doctors recommend these steps:
Drink fluids when you are thirsty, but be sure to drink at least four to five glasses of fluid every day even if you don’t feel thirsty.
Don’t stop drinking water. Without water, your urine will become concentrated and irritating and may make any urinary symptoms worse.
Also, you may become dehydrated.
It's as simple as that!! Do these things and under normal circumstances, you should never have have any problems!
“We don't do that here. We only take urine samples.” JEFF FOXWORTHY
