Understanding the Urine Colors
Dr. Travis: Believe it or not, the color of your urine can reveal how much you’ve had to drink, what you’ve eaten and even what medications you’re on. So, I’ve got this little prop here. In general, if your urine’s clear like this that means you’re pretty, well hydrated. But if you go along this spectrum here and your urine gets darker and darker, it can mean that you need more fluids. Now, it also may mean that you’ve taken a certain vitamin or you’ve eaten certain foods that can affect our urine color as well.
Dr. Drew: For example, if you’re eating lots of carrots or winter’s squash, your urine is going to look like that, a little bit like orange Kool Aid. The Vitamin C and the beta-carotene in those, that’s giving it the orange tinge. In addition, anti-coagulant medications and Vitamin C that you take can give that orange appearance.
Dr. Jim: Interesting. Well, what if it was a little bit blue-green? There are two different shades here that, you know, often times, that’s a sign that you’re getting too many B Vitamins. So, make sure you’re not taking more than the recommended dose if you’re taking a B-complex.
Other causes of blue-green urine is asparagus or certain medications such as a urinary pain medication.
Dr. Lisa: But I have pink urine because my favorite color is pink and I’m the girl so I get pink. But I don’t like pink in my urine unless you’ve eaten, like berries or rhubarb. Then, it might get pink or, again, if you’ve taken certain medications, it might get pink but if it’s pink to red, it could mean that you have blood in your urine and that you want to contact your doctor about.
Dr. Travis: So, seek medical help if your urine is cloudy because it can be a sign of infection. Certainly if your urine becomes really dark and then your stool becomes clay-like or not colored than that can be sign of a liver problem and certainly if you’re worried about blood, seek medical attention.
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