Your urine can offer you a window into your overall health. TEMITOPE OJO writes that you can learn a great deal about your overall health by examining your urine and noting its colour, odour and consistency.
The kidneys serve to filter excess water and water-soluble wastes out of the blood stream, getting rid of toxins and things that would otherwise build up and cause illness. Many things – from excess protein and sugar to presence of bacteria and yeast – may make their way into your urine.
Experts say instead of ignoring your urine and dashing back to whatever important activity you may be occupied with, take this opportunity to become familiar with your “normal”.
If you notice changes in the way your urine looks or smells, the cause may be something as benign as what you had for dinner, such as beefs or asparagus. Or, your good judgement may potentially alert you to a serious condition.
Frequency of urination is also important; increased urination may suggest infection, overactive bladder, diabetes, or a number of other concerns.
Urine is 95 per cent water and five percent urea, uric acid, minerals, salts, enzymes and various substances that would cause problems if allowed to accumulate in the body. Normal urine is clear and has a straw yellow colour, caused by a bile pigment called urobilin.
As with your stool, your urine changes colour depending on what foods you eat, what medications and supplements you take, how much water you drink, how active you are, and the time of the day.
But some diseases can also change the colour and other characteristics of your urine; so it’s important to be alert and informed. With so many variables, you can’t always be sure of what’s causing any particular urine characteristic, short of laboratory testing. However, urine’s character gives you some clues to potential problems that may be developing, giving you time to do something about it.
There are certain signs that warrant concern.
Red, green, yellow, blue. Urine comes in a variety of shades and hues, but peeing different colours of the rainbow is not always healthy. That’s why it is good to know what your urine says about your health.
Experts also say sometimes red pee can be an indication of kidney disease or urinary tract infections (UTI), but it’s also possible that you recently ate food with a certain pigment. For example, eating beets can result in beeturia – the passing of red or pink urine because of a compound called betanin in the vegetable.
Since pee is such a useful tool of diagnosis, and you are worried about the colour of your urine, it is recommended that you visit your doctor.
Experts say it is important to take enough water daily, and though the common “eight glasses per day” recommendation is over-generalised; instead, you should pay attention to your body’s own individual cues.
Your body is capable of telling you what it needs and when it needs it. Once your body has lost one to two per cent of its total water, your thirst mechanism kicks in to let you know it’s time to drink. Of course, if you are outside on a hot, dry day or exercising vigorously, you’ll require more water than usual — but even then, drinking when you feel thirsty will allow you to remain hydrated.
As you age, your thirst mechanism tends to work less efficiently. Therefore, older adults will want to be sure to drink water regularly, and sufficient quantity, to maintain pale yellow urine. As long as you aren’t taking riboflavin (vitamin B2, found in most multivitamins), which turns urine bright “fluorescent” yellow, then your urine should be quite pale. If you have kidney or bladder stones or a UTI, increase your water intake accordingly.