It's important to know a little bit about the urination process and what organs are involved. Blood is filtered through your kidneys, where waste, minerals, salts, sugars, and other chemical byproducts are removed. Some sugars are reabsorbed into the blood that remains in the kidneys. Everything else is discarded in the form of urine, which passes through your urinary tract and out the urethra.
Your personal plumbing system, aka the urinary tract, comprises four parts: the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra. Urine passes from the kidneys, down through muscular tubes called ureters, and into the bladder. Think of the bladder as a holding tank for urine, where it sits waiting to be expelled through the urethra.
Your pee can tell quite a story about your health and hydration. It's important to note that urine can temporarily change colors depending on what you are eating, how hydrated you are, and any medications you are taking. Although it's rare, some medications and foods can make your urine look green, or even blue!
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Here's what your pee might be telling you:
Straw-colored to transparent-yellow: This is the normal urine color of a healthy, well-hydrated body. This is what it should look like.
Transparent or clear: You should always be properly hydrated, but you can actually drink too much water, which will make your urine virtually colorless. Overhydration for long periods of time can lead to serious complications. We will get to that later.
Dark yellow: Still "normal"”but verging on signs of dehydration. You should probably start sipping water more regularly.
Honey-colored: Time to up the water intake. This isn't going to cut it.
Maple-syrup-colored: This is could suggest severe dehydration or liver disease.
Pink to reddish-colored: If you've been hogging on red-pigmented foods like beets or blueberries, then you're probably fine. If not, you may have blood in your urine. This can be transitory, or it could be a sign of something more complicated: a urinary tract (UTI) or kidney infection; kidney stones or kidney disease; or cancer of the kidney, bladder or prostate. Of note, UTIs are far more common among women than men.
Foamy or fizzy: If it only happens on occasion, then it's just a cool hydraulic effect”you've got a good flow going. But if it happens every time you tinkle, it could indicate high protein in your urine, which you may need to get checked by your doctor.
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Hyponatremia
You're likely getting the impression that water is a key player here, and you're right. H2O keeps your organ system running like a well-oiled machine. Although dehydration is a far greater concern than overhydration, some people actually drink far more water than they need to. Normal, healthy pee actually has a yellow color from a pigment called urochrome. It's true that the darker that yellow becomes, the less hydrated your body is. However, drinking so much water that your pee is clear can actually cause an imbalance in your electrolyte levels.
Common symptoms of hyponatremia include:
• Nausea and vomiting
• Headache and confusion
• Fatigue
• Muscle weakness, spasms or cramps
• Seizure or convulsions
• Coma
A good key to preventing overhydration is to sip”not gulp”water throughout the day, and to take in about half your body weight in ounces of water per day.
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Dehydration
Dehydration occurs when you lose more body fluids than you are taking in. If your pee is looking a bit dark, increase your water intake. One of the easiest ways to make sure you're getting enough water is to premeasure your water in the morning, and keep a full glass by your side throughout the day. Sip water at work or during exercise. Once your glass (or bottle) is empty, fill it back up.
Other signs of dehydration aside from darkening urine include:
• Fatigue, excessive yawning
• Moodiness
• Lack of focus
• Dry mouth
• Dry skin
• Headaches
• Constipation
