What can you know about your body from the color of your urine?

[Cerpin Taxt]

I'm sure this is just a bunch of gibberish, but this question has been kicking around in my head for a while...

For example, when I take my multivitamin, my pee goes bright yellow/green for a bit.

When I lift, especially on leg days, I can't seem to get enough water. I'm peeing every 15 mins and it's basically clear.

What kind of things can I infer from the changing colors of my pee? Particularly, if I'm peeing clear, would I benefit from taking another multivitamin? I know that the color in my pee from the multi is basically just excess vitamins being flushed out, and also a consequence of dehydration. If I'm peeing clear does that mean that I have a temporary "vitamin deficiency" and could supplement vitamins at that time to maximal benefit? Or does it simply mean that I'm adequately hydrated, and additional vitamin supplementation would be meaningless?

Does anyone see what I'm getting at? Like I said it's probably nonsense, but I thought I'd put it out there.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

My multivitamin makes me pee bright yellow.

No-xplode makes me pee neon orange.

Coffee makes my piss stink really bad.

 

[sandorski]

It's clear simply because of the volumes of water you're drinking. No need to worry about that. If it's dark, kinda brownish, that usually indicates dehydration.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Don't worry about the color of your urine, unless it's relatively yellow without taking a multivitamin. Drink until your quenched. You don't need to over-drink. If you pee brown, go to the hospital. That's really all you need to know.

 

[conorvansmack]

My multivitamin makes me pee bright yellow.

No-xplode makes me pee neon orange.

Coffee makes my piss stink really bad.

Asparagus. Dang!

I've heard that different colored pee when taking a multivitamin is just your body is getting rid of the vitamins that didn't absorb. Most will advise getting your vitamins through regular food, the way they are meant to get into your body, instead of supplementing, but ymmv.

 

[CKent]

Don't worry about the color of your urine, unless it's relatively yellow without taking a multivitamin. Drink until your quenched. You don't need to over-drink. If you pee brown, go to the hospital. That's really all you need to know.

Mine's usually fairly brownish after coffee. Of course, the way I make coffee it can just about reach out of the mug and slap you.

 

[rasczak]

Don't worry about the color of your urine, unless it's relatively yellow without taking a multivitamin. Drink until your quenched. You don't need to over-drink. If you pee brown, go to the hospital. That's really all you need to know.

clear pee plus frequent urination is a sign of diabetes.

<---- diabetic and that was how i found out. also had to drink a gallon of water a day while still losing 15 pounds in two weeks. diabetes is a great way to lose weight btw.

 

[Koing]

A drugs tester can tell which urine sample came from an efficient athletes body and a non athletes body...

If your urine is yellowish in colour your dehydrated. It should be a clear colour with a *slight* yellow. Remember, your bodyweight is 80&#37; water.

Koing

 

[SociallyChallenged]

clear pee plus frequent urination is a sign of diabetes.

<---- diabetic and that was how i found out. also had to drink a gallon of water a day while still losing 15 pounds in two weeks. diabetes is a great way to lose weight btw.

Clear pee is frequently from succumbing to the thirst associated with diabetes. That doesn't tell you that you have diabetes or not. A blood test, along with symptoms of lethargy, weight loss, nocturia (or getting up in the night, typically to urinate), and acidic breath (from ketoacidosis) will tell you if you have diabetes or not. Do not base any thought of having diabetes solely off the fact that you pee clear and pee frequently.

 

[StageLeft]

Don't worry about the color of your urine, unless it's relatively yellow without taking a multivitamin. Drink until your quenched. You don't need to over-drink. If you pee brown, go to the hospital. That's really all you need to know.

This is true. People make too much of urine color. If it's red you have an issue. Or green or blue or it has worms in it. I drink a ton of water throughout the day sitting at my office chair just out of habit. Generally I pee a lot (every hour or so) and it's clear but other times it may not be. Maybe I'll go a couple of hours without drinking too much and it's yellow, but am I dehydrated? Damn sure am not. The goal of having clear urine is not just hard to achieve but also completely without merit or reason. Even an endurance athlete generally doesn't need to go to lengths to force down more water than they feel comfortable drinking (i.e. want to drink to quench thirst).

For some reason it's gained traction that many of us are chronically dehydrated and need to drink more and it's not based in a damn lick of actual evidence. Really, how the hell did we make it this far if throughout history we were unable to drink the right amount without having to force it?

 

[SlitheryDee]

I think the color of your urine has more to do with hydration than anything else. Clear urine means that you are somewhat overhydrated and your kidneys have stepped up their water removal to quickly reduce the amount of water in your body while still cleaning out the toxins at the normal pace. This ends up meaning that you have a greater volume of urine with less of the chemicals that normally give it color dissolved in it.

If you are less hydrated, your kidneys don't have to worry about increased water removal and can fill the bladder with more "concentrated" urine because it is still removing toxins from the bloodstream at the same pace regardless.

This is just "that sounds right to me" cogitation on my part, though. In any case, I don't think you should actually try to make your urine more yellow during times that it isn't via supplementation. I think clear urine doesn't indicate a shortage of any vitamin, but rather an overabundance of water.

 

[MetalMat]

If you are working outside in the heat its important to monitor your water intake so you don't get heat stroke. You can look at the color of your piss to get a general idea.

At least that whats the signs above the urinals had when I worked in the oil field

 

[VulgarDisplay]

The clear stuff tastes better than the colored.

 

[Kipper]

I'm sure this is just a bunch of gibberish, but this question has been kicking around in my head for a while...

For example, when I take my multivitamin, my pee goes bright yellow/green for a bit.

That's the riboflavin in your multivitamin. They load those things with far more than you need, so the water-soluble stuff works its way out. Riboflavin has a yellowish neon color.

When I lift, especially on leg days, I can't seem to get enough water. I'm peeing every 15 mins and it's basically clear.

If you're like me, you can down 3/4ths of a gallon easily on a leg day. I sweat like a pig on leg days, particularly if I'm not wearing shorts (e.g. DL day) and especially in the summer. I probably overhydrate in these situations, so that prompts my body to produce more urine to compensate. This drives fluid balance in the other direction, and after an hour or so I can become mildly dehydrated, causing me to drink more water. Fluid balance turns positive, I pee more...and the cycle continues throughout the day.

What kind of things can I infer from the changing colors of my pee?

As others have suggested, hydration status. If you pee bloody red and haven't eaten beets recently, see a physician, stat.

Particularly, if I'm peeing clear, would I benefit from taking another multivitamin? I know that the color in my pee from the multi is basically just excess vitamins being flushed out, and also a consequence of dehydration.

No. If you are eating adequately healthy you probably aren't deriving very much benefit from the multivitamin, so taking another isn't likely to help.

If I'm peeing clear does that mean that I have a temporary "vitamin deficiency" and could supplement vitamins at that time to maximal benefit?

No. You are not going to suffer a vitamin deficiency over the course of a few hours simply because your urine volume increases.

Or does it simply mean that I'm adequately hydrated, and additional vitamin supplementation would be meaningless?

This.

 

[mchammer187]

Don't diuretics make your pee clear to so it is not necessarily because you are adequately or overhydrated.

That is unless pounding 12 beers over a couple hours hydrates you because my pee is always crystal clear when drinking lots of beer.