What Can Urine Say About Your Health?

A small sample of your urine can tell a doctor quite a lot about you -- whether you are pregnant, using drugs or suffer from a disease like diabetes.

But with some occasional observation, your urine can also help give you a view of your health status.

While most physicians say daily observation of what is at the bottom of the toilet bowl is not recommended, keeping an eye out for sudden or strange changes in the color of your urine can help keep you on top of some potential health problems.

Most Color Changes Normal

For the average person, urine color and appearance can change widely in a single day and is usually no cause for concern.

"The color of one's urine is generally related directly to how hydrated or dehydrated they may be, with the exception of people who take vitamins," said Dr. Gary Bellman, a urologist with a private practice in Los Angeles. "Vitamins will discolor your urine, but usually that will be eliminated a few hours afterward."

Depending on the level of hydration, your urine color can fluctuate from dark yellow to clear.

"Generally, when someone wakes up in the morning, their urine is a darker yellow because they didn't drink all night, and that's simply an indication of the concentration of their urine. If someone is at the beach all day and they don't drink much, or they perspire a lot (or) they run 10 miles, their urine will be darker because they didn't drink," said Bellman. "If they have two Starbucks or three beers, both of which are diuretics, their urine will be see-through and will be very, very dilute."

Bellman said he tells his patients who have suffered from kidney stones to keep a close eye on the coloration of their urine to make sure they are getting enough fluids. But for the average person, he recommends paying more attention to how you feel that what to what comes out of their bodies to make sure they are getting enough fluids.

"There's this belief that water is good for you. I'm not a big believer in that. The body is a really smart machine. We have a thirst mechanism, and when we need fluids, we will drink and we will get lots of water out the beverages that we drink," said Bellman. "Water is good, juice is good. People malign soda a lot, but the truth is that in moderation it's not such a bad thing."

There are other things that might appear to be abnormal with your urine but which are common and not a cause of concern.

"One commonly asked question is, 'My urine smells funny.' But, generally, that's not a sign of infection. That's generally a sign of what you may have eaten," said Bellman. "So, certain spices, certain vegetables -- asparagus and other things -- will cause one's urine to have a certain odor and, generally it's of no major concern."

Red Urine Shows Problems

Red, pink or brown urine can be a sign that there is blood present and could be an indicator of any number of health problems. Needless to say, anything in the red spectrum is a good reason to go the doctor right away.

"We see people who have blood in their urine, either their blood is red or wine color or brown, that's usually a sign of blood in the urinary tract and they need to be checked for kidney stones, for kidney tumors, for kidney polyps or bladder tumors, bladder stones -- things of that nature," said Bellman.

Cloudy urine can also be a sign of infection.

Does Odd Color Mean You Have An Odd Disease?

There are also other colors -- many of them reaching really odd realms -- that your urine can turn, but according to Bellman are usually not a health concern.

There are a number of Web sites that are dedicated to urine colors and the reasons for them, including UrineColors.com

Bellman chuckled when told about the site and said, "Boy, there's just all kinds of Web sites, aren't there?"

Urinecolors and others like it list possible urine colors of green and blue. Most people would think if they are urinating blue something must be really, really wrong, but that is not likely the case.

"(The Web sites) classify these like they are common things, and that's not true. Blue or green is very unusual," said Bellman. "I think it's fair to say that some of these colorations are based upon what you may eat or drink and generally are a benign thing."

Urinecolors also had a list of questions people should ask if they have an odd event, including, "How do I feel?" "What have I eaten recently that I don't normally" and "What drugs am I taking, and what are the side effects?"