The color of urine is a healthy person. Norm and deviations from it

Human urine is an important and useful diagnostic tool in medicine. Its color, density and smell "tell" a lot about your health. Urine analysis can be done without spending a penny. In addition, it will help to pinpoint urinary tract infections and kidney disease.

Visual examination of the patient's urine is used by doctors for a very long time. Before the beginning of our era, the Greeks understood the value of this analysis. And European doctors began to regularly carry out this diagnosis in the Middle Ages.

In this article we learn the answers to questions about what is the normal color of urine in a healthy person, and what are the deviations from the norm.

What is urine?

The urine is, from a medical point of view, a by-product fluid that contains substances that are unnecessary for the body. It is secreted by the kidneys and is excreted through the urethra during urination. In other words, urine is one of the types of human waste.

Consistency, odor and color are often indicators of your lifestyle and health status. Each of these signs can vary depending on what you ate or drank, or on what disease you have found (all this affects the color of the urine of a healthy person).

The urine contains more chemicals than in the saliva or cerebrospinal fluid. Due to this, during its analysis it is possible to reveal innumerable information details: the state of the kidneys, liver, stomach and pancreas, urethra, and the degree of exposure to harmful microorganisms. With this knowledge, doctors are a step closer to "catching" potentially catastrophic health complications before the disease takes on a chronic form.

Characteristics of "healthy urine"

A sample of urine, with no signs of any disease, has several characteristics:

- yellow color;

- odor: absent;

- The pH is in the range of 4.8 to 7.5;

- the content of a small amount of protein and glucose;

- Absence of ketones, hemoglobin (from the blood), bilirubin (from the bile of the liver) or its oxidized products (biliverdin);

- Absence of white blood cells or nitrites.

What color is the urine of a healthy person?

The urine gets its yellow color from the pigment, which is called urochrome. This shade usually ranges from pale yellow to dark amber, depending on the concentration.

Beets, blackberries, rhubarb, horse beans and other berries are the main products that affect the color of human urine. And excessive consumption of carrots will lead to the formation of an orange shade. During the intake of some oral medications, the color of the urine of a healthy person can turn green or blue. Often, vitamin preparations make it more vivid. A disease called porphyria can "color" the urine in red.

But sometimes the color change becomes a marker for the appearance of various diseases. Carefully consider the main "unhealthy" shades of urine, as well as find out what the causes of their occurrence.

Colorless

When a large amount of fluid is taken, the normal color of the urine of a healthy person becomes almost colorless. Excessive consumption of alcohol, coffee drinks and green tea also causes its discoloration.

Transparent urine is a by-product of diabetes. This disease occurs when the body produces insufficient amounts of insulin, while the level of glucose begins to rise, and excess sugar is excreted in the urine. A general blood test will also confirm deviations from the normal level of glucose.

A colorless shade can also be evidence of the occurrence of such a rare disease as diabetes insipidus, which affects the disruption of the production of an antidiuretic hormone regulating fluid retention in the kidneys. People with such abnormalities often develop extreme dehydration and electrolyte imbalance.

Orange

This shade indicates not only that you need to consume more fluids during the day, but also about the development of serious diseases.

Sometimes the color of the urine of a healthy person (density and concentration is estimated separately) becomes orange due to the presence of bilirubin. If its level is anomalously high, it indicates the impassability of bile ducts in the liver, liver diseases or increased rate of erythrocyte destruction, which is associated with the appearance of jaundice. If the urine is shaken, this will help to determine what pigment is in it: bilirubin forms a yellow foam.

Orange color with a pink tinge appears due to the crystallization of uric acid, and also due to the emergence of acute and chronic nephropathy, kidney stone disease.

Fever or sweating lead to the formation of dark urine.

Many drugs, such as dehydrating and antibiotics, turn the shade into a bright tangerine. This is facilitated by excessive consumption of carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, because of the high content of carotene in products.

Vitamin C and riboflavin create the same effect.

Red

When the color of the urine of a healthy person acquires a red tint, this indicates the presence of red blood cells, hemoglobin and myoglobin (appears from the breakdown of muscle cells).

Hemoglobin can indicate the appearance of a disease such as the Nutcracker Syndrome, which leads to the constriction of veins in the kidneys, the destruction of blood cells, accompanied by severe anemia.

Injuries resulting from increased training, when the muscles are significantly damaged, create an increased level of myoglobin in the urine.

A red shade may appear due to the use of drugs with phenolphthalein. Rhubarb, beet and blackberries create the same effect.

Red urine is also a symptom of mercury poisoning. The disease of porphyria and the intake of medications such as warfarin, ibuprofen, rifampicin, etc., give a reddish hue.

Pink

The color of the urine of a healthy person (the norm is described above) acquires a pink tint with excessive consumption of hypnotics and alcoholic beverages.

The addition of large quantities of beets, blackberries or other dark red products to food also leads to the appearance of a pink color.

Specific smell of urine, pink color, chills, pain in the lower abdomen and in the back indicate a urinary tract infection.

Blue

Such a rare shade is often the result of the reaction of the body to such drugs as "Viagra" and methylene.

People with blue diaper syndrome have a disrupted ability to split and absorb the amino acid tryptophan, which leads to its mass elimination through urine, staining it in blue.

Consuming food with a blue dye leads to the same effect.

Green

The color of the urine of a healthy person acquires a green tint when there is a synaemic bacterial infection in the body or a urinary tract infection.

The biliverdin pigment, appearing in the urine, is a likely indicator of the appearance of diseases in the liver and kidneys. In order to confirm its presence, you need to shake the urine sample a little, then a green foam appears.

Biologically active additives with chlorophyll also create a dark green color.

Purple

A deep purple hue indicates a kidney failure, as well as a high concentration of waste in the blood.

Such color may be the result of the appearance of urinary tract infections.

The disease of porphyria leads to an abnormal accumulation of porphyrins in the body, which color the urine red, which darkens to purple upon contact with light.

Brown and black

The color of the urine of a healthy person (the photo is presented above) acquires a dark brown hue due to the appearance of excessive amounts of bilirubin and oxidized red blood cells, which indicates the appearance of functional abnormalities in the liver.

People suffering from cirrhosis of the liver, hepatitis or Wilson's syndrome, excrete urine with a brown tinge. Poisoning with phenol leads to the same effect.

Black urine is not uncommon after receiving an intramuscular injection of iron.

White

Turbid urine with a pungent smell is often a symptom of urinary tract and kidney infections, and may also indicate the appearance of acute glomerulonephritis, infections in the vagina, cervix or external urethra.

Milk color is also due to the presence of red blood cells or mucus.

Calcium and phosphorus, which are contained in some medicinal products, stain the urine white. Consumption of large amounts of milk leads to the same effect.

Tuberculosis of the urinary tract also promotes the formation of a white hue.

In the end, it is worth noting that the color of urine is important for identifying various diseases. However, more information is needed to identify the exact problem. The color of urine is only part of the "puzzle" and a good starting point in the study of the human body. And at any change it is necessary to address to the expert.