Taking certain vitamin B supplements may cause bright yellow urine. Typically, urine should be pale yellow, clear, and free of particles. Darker urine may indicate dehydration.
Urine can be a range of colors, and its color may give clues about a person’s health. Ideally, urine should be straw-colored or clear yellow. Generally, the more water people drink, the clearer their urine is.
Dehydration can cause dark, concentrated yellow urine. Certain foods, vitamins, and medications can also impact the way urine looks and smells.
The article discusses factors that may affect urine color.
Bright yellow urine can have various causes, including:
Excess vitamins
Bright yellow urine may be a sign of excess B vitamins in the body, which may be due to taking B vitamin supplements. Meal replacement shakes may also be fortified with B vitamins.
B vitamins play a role in many processes in the body, including metabolism and brain function, and they are a popular supplement. Excess B vitamins are excreted by the kidneys through the urine, causing bright yellow urine.
Taking vitamin C supplements can have the same effect.
Dehydration
The yellow color of urine darkens as its concentration increases. Concentration refers to the proportion of waste products to water.
When the body takes in insufficient fluid or loses excess amounts of fluid through sweating or illness, the urine’s concentration increases, and the yellow colour darkens.
Having consistently highly concentrated urine is a risk factor for kidney stones. To stay hydrated and reduce the risk of health complications, people should aim to drink enough fluids so their urine is pale yellow.
Learn more about preventing kidney stones.
Medications
Certain medications can turn urine shades of orange, red, and yellow. They include:
- phenazopyridine
- sulfasalazine
- some laxatives
The yellow color in balanced urine comes from urochrome, a waste product produced from the breakdown of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells that enables oxygen to travel around the body.
Red blood cells are renewed in their millions every day, so the body needs to break down old cells. The urochrome from this process ends up in the urine and gives it its yellow color.
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Urine can turn a range of colors, and some highlight a medical problem.
This section names many of the possible causes, but it is not a complete list. There may be other causes of color changes in the urine. People should take any concerns about unusual urine color to a doctor.
However, a visit to a physician may not always be necessary.
Orange urine
Certain drugs, such as phenazopyridine, laxatives, and the antibiotic rifampicin can lead to orange urine.
Dietary factors causing orange urine include a high intake of beta-carotene and vitamin C.
Red urine
Blood in the urine, known as hematuria, is a possible cause of red urine. See a doctor about red urine, as hematuria can be serious.
Hemoglobinuria, a blood condition, can also cause red urine, as can myoglobinuria, which involves a waste product of muscle breakdown.
Harmless causes of red urine include beetroot or blackberries in the diet.
Brown urine
Medicines that turn urine brown include:
- antipsychotic drugs, such as chlorpromazine and thioridazine
- antibiotics, such as metronidazole and nitrofurantoin
- phenytoin, or Dilantin, an epilepsy drug
- sennoside laxatives, such as Senna-Lax and Senokot
Deep purple urine
A condition called porphyria causes urine to appear deep purple.
Porphyria is a rare metabolic disorder that affects blood composition.
Green urine
The urine can turn green because of the following:
- drugs and other compounds containing phenol, such as promethazine, used for allergy and nausea, and propofol, a drug used in anesthetics
- other drugs, including the antidepressant amitriptyline, cimetidine, which reduces stomach acid, and the painkiller indomethacin
- dyes, including indigo-blue, indigo carmine, which is used in kidney tests, carbolic acid, and flavin derivatives
- biliverdin, a bile pigment
- infection with Pseudomonas bacteria
- Methylene blue, a dye that has also been used as a drug, can produce a blue-green color to the urine.
Urine can indicate changes in the body through its smell and clarity as well as color.
Cloudy urine
Cloudy urine can signal a number of possible problems. For females, it could be a result of vaginal discharge.
Other changes that may cause cloudiness include:
- dehydration
- urinary bladder infections and lower urinary tract infections (UTIs)s
- kidney disease, including kidney stones
- excessive levels of certain minerals, such as calcium
Too much meat or dairy can cause excretion of phosphorus, which leads to cloudy urine.
Foamy urine
Kidney problems and excess protein can also make urine foamy. Temporary foaminess may be the result of forceful urine flow. Urine foaminess along with swelling in the legs and puffiness around the eyes may indicate serious kidney disease, and people must see a doctor right away.
Urine odor
The smell of urine can change. Some changes are harmless, while others are a sign of disease:
- Eating a lot of asparagus can make the urine smell like rotting cabbage.
- UTIs can cause the urine to have a foul smell.
- Urine that smells sweet could be a sign of diabetes.
Seek medical help when dehydration is caused by illness and a person is unable to take in fluids. This is especially important if there is no explanation for the dehydration or it is severe.
Dehydration can be dangerous for anyone, but especially young children or older adults.
Red-colored urine is a clear indicator of needing medical help. Pain when urinating should also be discussed with a doctor.
Some conditions that change urine color are rare but serious. A tumor in the urinary tract is one example of a rare cause that needs an urgent diagnosis.
If adjusting food intake, stopping vitamins, and increasing water consumption do not improve the color of the urine, a person can talk with a doctor about other possible causes.
Bright yellow urine is not usually a cause for concern. Dehydration is the most common cause of having very yellow or dark urine. Consuming an excess of B vitamins, vitamin C, and beta carotene may also be responsible.
Many changes in urine color are temporary or reversible following a change in diet or medication, and most are harmless.
If a person is worried about their bright yellow urine, they can try adjusting their diet and supplement intake and drinking more water to see if their urine changes. If these measures have no effect or if a person feels pain when urinating, they must contact a doctor.
