What Color is Your Pee?

Have you ever taken a look at your pee? C’mon! Admit it. You’ve looked, but unless you know what you’re looking at, it’s difficult to decipher what your pee color is telling you. The Mayo Clinic determines pee color as follows; Normal urine color ranges from pale yellow to deep amber — the result of a pigment called urochrome and how diluted or concentrated the urine is. Pigments and other compounds in certain foods and medications may change your urine color. Beets, berries and fava beans are among the foods most likely to affect urine color. Many over-the-counter and prescription medications give urine vivid tones, such as raspberry red, lemon yellow or greenish blue.

Unusual coloring in your pee could be a sign of disease or could simply be caused by food dyes. The amount of water you drink determines the ‘shades’ of yellow. Fluid dilutes the yellow pigment in urine. When you are dehydrated, the color of your urine can become dark, or in cases of sever dehydration, amber. The following chart from Self Magazine will help guide you in deciphering what the color of your pee is telling you.