Normal urine characteristics of color, smell, and amount

Normal urine color

The color of urine varies from clear to dark yellow. This color difference is caused by urine pigments called urochromes and urobilin. In addition, the color of urine is also influenced by fluid intake and what you consume.

Healthy urine is clear to light yellow in color. The more water you drink, the clearer the urine will be. Conversely, not drinking enough water will make the urine dark yellow to orange.

Outside of this color range, urine can also change color to red, green, blue, and dark brown. The following are various urine colors and their causes that can also be related to bladder disease.

1. Solid yellow

The most common cause of dark yellow urine is dehydration. When the body is dehydrated, the urobilin concentration in the urine will increase. There isn't enough water to dissolve the urobilin, so the urine is darker in color.

In addition to lack of fluids, a dark yellow color can also be caused by:

Take antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, and urinary tract infection drugs.
Sexually transmitted diseases, especially chlamydia.
Inflammation of the bladder (cystitis), urinary tract, or kidneys.
Take B vitamins, vitamin C, and beta-carotene.
Liver disfunction.

2. Pink or red

Urine usually turns red with blood, but the cause is not necessarily serious. Blood can come from urinary tract infections, kidney stones, or bladder stones. Sometimes, blood can also come from an enlarged prostate or a tumor.

Certain medications can also turn normal urine red. If you regularly take antibiotics for tuberculosis or medications for the urinary tract, your urine will likely turn orange to dark red in color.

2. Orange

The orange color of urine often comes from taking the anti-inflammatory drugs phenazopyridine and sulfasalazine, laxatives, and chemotherapy drugs. In some cases, the orange color can be caused by liver dysfunction or severe dehydration.

3. Dark chocolate

Dark brown urine is generally a sign of severe dehydration. The water content in the urine is very little so that the urine dye concentration becomes very high. As a result, urine that was normal changes color to very thick.

However, there are other conditions that may be the cause, such as:

Kidney disease, liver disease, or urinary tract infection.
Muscle injury from very strenuous exercise.
Take the antimalarial drugs chloroquine and primaquine, antibiotics, laxatives, or muscle relaxants.

4. Blue or green

The blue or green color of urine can come from food coloring agents or dyes in kidney and bladder function tests. The drugs amitriptyline, indomethacin, and propofol can also turn your urine blue-green.

5. Cloudy or cloudy

If the urine is cloudy with no other symptoms, this may indicate dehydration. However, cloudy urine with pain or heat when urinating can be a symptom of venereal disease, urinary tract infection, or kidney stones.

The normal amount of urine and frequency of urination

A healthy person can urinate 6-8 times a day. The frequency of urinating 4-10 times in 24 hours is still fairly normal as long as it doesn't interfere with daily activities.

Meanwhile, the amount of urine excreted in a day ranges from 400 to 2,000 mL, with a normal fluid intake of about 2 liters per day. This is an average range and each person may have a different volume of urine out.

How often you urinate depends on many factors, including:

Age.
Water intake in a day.
Drinks consumed, for example water, tea, and so on.
Medical conditions such as diabetes, urinary tract infections, or an overactive bladder (overactive bladder) .
Take certain drugs.
Bladder size.

Special circumstances such as pregnancy or childbirth can also affect how often you urinate. During pregnancy, the fetus can put pressure on the bladder so that you urinate more frequently.

After delivery, the frequency of urination usually increases over the course of eight weeks. This occurs because of the additional fluid intake from the IV and medications that may be received during labor.

Normal urine odor

Naturally, if all urine causes an unpleasant odor, because urine contains various waste products from the body's metabolism. One of the most influential substances in making urine smell is ammonia.

Diet and fluid intake also contribute to the smell of urine. If the smell of urine has changed temporarily, it could be caused by something you ate before. Jengkol or petai, for example, can have a very strong odor when you pee.

However, under normal circumstances, pee will not smell strong or have a certain smell. Here are some unusual odors from urine and the conditions that might cause it:

1. Stinging like ammonia

If your pee suddenly smells strong and is thick yellow, this is a sign that you are dehydrated. Ammonia high in urine cannot dissolve because there is not enough water. As a result, urine creates a strong odor.

In addition to dehydration, pungent odor in urine can also be caused by:

Infections of the urinary tract
Impaired breakdown of nutrients in the body
Hormonal changes due to pregnancy or menopause
Eat acidic foods, protein, and vitamin B6 supplements

2. Fishy

Fishy-smelling urine is abnormal and can indicate a health problem, especially if it persists for a long time. Various causes of fishy urine are as follows.

Urinary tract infection.
Bacterial infection of the vagina (bacterial vaginosis).
Fish odor syndrome, which is a fishy smell in sweat, breath, and urine because the body fails to break down trimethylamine.
Kidney problems.
Inflammation of the prostate gland.
Liver failure.

Actually, urine that smells fishy does not always indicate a serious health problem if it is not accompanied by other symptoms. The reason is, this could be because you are dehydrated or influenced by your diet recently.

However, if the urine smell does not return to normal, consult a doctor immediately to determine the cause. Watch for symptoms of severe pain when urinating, nausea, vomiting, fever, and back pain. This may signal a kidney infection that needs to be treated immediately.

3. Sweet

Some health problems, medications, and supplements can turn the smell of urine to sweet. Here are some of the most common causes.

Excess blood sugar in urine due to uncontrolled diabetes.
Diabetic ketoacidosis, which is a condition when the body burns fat as energy because the hormone insulin cannot process the incoming sugar.
Maple syrup urine disease , namely a genetic disorder that makes the body unable to digest certain proteins.
Take vitamin B6 supplements and certain medications.
Foetor hepaticus , which is a complication of hepatic vascular hypertension that causes changes in breath odor and urine.

Small changes in normal urine can indicate impaired function or disease in the urinary system. This is why you need to get used to seeing the condition of your urine when you urinate, especially if you also experience certain symptoms.