Your toilet bowl can paint a picture of your health.
Urine, pee or waste. Whatever your preference for the language you choose to use, you can learn a ton about your health from your pee. The changes in your urine may come from how the body is hydrated or not hydrated. You have the chance to see how healthy your vital organs are functioning or if they are in danger.
"A lot of changes simply come from the state of hydration, which is affected by a whole bunch of things you're doing," Dr. Daniel Shoskes, a urologist at Cleveland Clinic explained in an interview with FoxNews.com. "The various shades of yellow to white to dark can just be a sign of how much fluid you are taking in versus how much you're putting out."
Your pee can form an assortment of colors as well. It may be transparent, dark orange, brown, yellow, pink, or green. It is not just the color, either. The smell of your pee can indicate health issues. It can have a foul smell, fish smell, sweet smell or a musty smell.
Dr. Troy Sukkarieh is a board-certified urologic surgeon and shared that urine is a key diagnostic tool to help patients. We all hate peeing in a cup when our practitioners ask for a urine sample. However, don't become too fastidious. "That sample can provide a number of important insights regarding your health. It’s one of the easiest — and most valuable — tests you can undergo every year, regardless of your age or medical history."
Are you ready to glance down and check out your pee? Use this guide to see how healthy you are and see what your pee is reporting.
Transparent Urine
Most of us know that when our pee is clear, it is a sign that we are functioning at 100 percent and are hydrated. Although remaining hydrated is good, you don't want to drink too much water as it can dilute the salts and throw off the electrolytes in the body. The body can regulate water. "But if your urine is clear and you’re peeing 20 times a day, you’re drinking water excessively," Dr. Courtenay Moore, a urologist with the Cleveland Clinic said.Green Urine
If you are not on any medication or you didn't eat something with food dye, your urine should not be green. It can indicate a rare genetic disease. Certain bacteria can also cause this color in the urine as well. "While some little-known diseases, including porphyria—an inherited enzyme condition—can result in a person having blue or green urine," Shoskes explained. You should see your doctor.Brown Urine
Brown urine is an indication of something going haywire with the liver or you are severely dehydrated. This can also mean that there is something wrong with the kidneys. Brown pee can result from inflammation "infection, kidney disease or failure, kidney stones, injury, cancer, or bleeding disorders," Health Grades announced. Another reason is that the blood in the urine turned brown. Some other things to consider is it could be hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C or it could be an allergic reaction causing the urine to become brown.Pink Urine
Pink or red urine can mean that you just ate red foods like beets, beetroot extract or any food with beetroot pigments. "Bloody urine may indicate internal injury, kidney issues, or cancer," Dr. Sukkarieh. It can also mean that Sickle Cell Disease, phenazopyridine, cyclophosphamide or cystoscopy is at play here. Never take anything for granted and get it evaluated by a doctor. They can order tests to confirm or rule out any underlying issues.Orange Urine
Having orange urine can mean that there is a bile problem. Orange urine can be a symptom of eating carotenoids or from various medications like Azulfidine, Rifampin, Pyridium, Azulfidine or anything that contains senna could possibly alter the color of your pee. "It may occur in conditions affecting the urinary tract itself or along with more generalized conditions, such as infection and cancer," Health Grades found.Foamy Urine
Sometimes fizzy urine is normal, as the speed of urination and other factors can influence this. It can be a hydraulic effect. However, if for any reason this continues, it could be a sign of too much protein in your pee. This could lead to bigger problems like kidney problems. "Urine be checked for elevated levels of protein. If the test is positive, you may need further tests to determine the cause of the problem," WebMD published. It also may indicate a genetic disease or bacteria that could be growing up and in your urinary tract.Smelly Urine
What is that smell? Usually, pee doesn't smell foul, but when it does hold your breath. Besides the unpleasantness of it, an infection could be causing your urine to become opaque as well. If the smell is fruity, it could be a sign of diabetes or you could be getting a yeast infection. It might be that a genetic disorder is causing the urine to smell fishy or even sour. Pregnancy can make your pee smell due to the hormones in the system. Or certain foods could make your urine stink. Foods like garlic, asparagus, onions, spices, alcohol and fish could alter your body chemistry. "As medieval doctors knew, sugar also affects urine's taste, but that's one diagnostic test they probably preferred to do as little as possible," Live Science described.We never want to chat about our bodily functions, but if you made it to this paragraph--you should be good. More importantly than our pride is that our pee is a barometer of what is going on in the body. If you feel that something is amiss or that the color or smell of your urine is off, contact your doctor. Next time you look into the bowl, it could give you a glimpse of your overall well-being, so keep that in mind before you flush.
