Urine: This means the color

Light yellow urine: everything is fine

If the urine is light yellow, the kidneys usually work, and the bladder is healthy. Since urine is always used as a water level indicator for one’s drinking behaviour, its colour allows conclusions about the drinking quantity to be drawn. If the urine is light yellow, the fluid intake is sufficient.

Colourless urine

In principle, clear to colourless urine also indicates a healthy bladder and kidneys. Conversely, if the urine contains hardly any colour, this also means that it is significantly diluted. This suggests that you drink too much liquid daily, and drinking one or two glasses of water is better.

The urine is dark yellow.

The situation is different when the urine takes on a dark yellow colour: This indicates that you are not drinking enough liquid daily and that drinking a few more glasses of water is better. Inflammation of the kidneys or bladder is also possible – but it usually manifests itself in accompanying symptoms such as flank pain, fever or pain when urinating. If the yellow is very intense or reminiscent of neon yellow, a high intake of vitamin B2 could be the cause.

Yellow foamy urine

Foaming urine is a sign of protein in the urine. The causes of proteinuria can be varied, from kidney disease to too much stress to fever. In younger people, mental and physical stress are more to blame for the fact that too much protein is excreted in the urine. Nevertheless, it is better to consult a doctor early on in the case of yellow-foamy urine so that he can clarify the cause.

Cloudy urine

If the urine is milky-cloudy or you can see flakes, this indicates a urinary tract infection or a bladder infection. The cloudy urine is then caused by bacteria, fungi and white and red blood cells, which the immune system sends to fight off the infection. In such a case, those affected should quickly consult a doctor to have the infection treated.

The urine colour is orange.

First, orange-coloured urine can mean you are not drinking enough. Those affected should then definitely drink more water every day. However, liver disease and diseases of the bile ducts can also cause the orange colour of the urine. Then, a doctor should quickly clarify which disease is present and treat it. In addition, the antibiotic nitrofurantoin colours the urine orange.

Urine is red

Women who are not currently menstruating should take the sign seriously and consult their family doctor – men, anyway, because red-coloured urine can mean that there is blood in the urine. This, in turn, is a sign of bladder cancer, inflammation of the bladder and kidneys or the metabolic disease porphyria. The antibiotic rifampicin also stains the urine red.

Certain dyes in food that stain the urine pink to red are much less harmful. If you ate a lot of red berries, rhubarb, beetroot or carrots before urinating, you will likely find the cause of your reddish urine here.

Urine is brown

Certain medications can stain the urine very darkly, making it look brown to black. These include the active ingredients levodopa (L-dopa), which is used to treat Parkinson’s disease and restless legs syndrome (RLS), and alpha-methyldopa, which is prescribed for high blood pressure . In rare cases, the metabolic disease alkaptonuria or liver disease may be present. If you drink very little liquid, your urine can also become brownish, and the urine is then very concentrated.

Blue-green coloured urine

Only rarely does the urine turn green or blue. It is probably leftovers from multivitamin preparations that are excreted in the urine, or it is a side effect of certain active ingredients in medications such as indomethacin, propofol or amitriptyline.