What Can Your Pee Teach You About Your Health?

There are a lot of things your body can tell you about your health.

Cracked, brittle nails and thinning hair might be a sign of a vitamin deficiency.

A skin rash could indicate contact with an allergen.

Even your pee is trying to tell you something – but are you listening?

I’m Dr. Sheila Dyer ND, a naturopathic doctor in Toronto, and if you’re worried about what your pee is trying to tell you, one test we can do is a functional diagnostic urine test, which will help me to offer a targeted treatment plan for your symptoms.

Keep reading to learn more about what health issues might show up in your pee – if you know what to look for.

What Is Pee?

Pee, or urine, is a liquid waste product created by your body.

It consists of water, chemicals (including urea and uric acid), salt, and electrolytes.

Urine is produced by the kidneys as they filter unwanted waste substances from your blood and is generally approximately 95% water.

What Can Your Pee Tell You?

When you think of pee, you likely picture a pale yellow substance.

And you would be right – healthy, normal pee is typically clear, and a pale yellow or golden colour.

When it deviates from this norm, it could be a sign that there is something going on in your body to be concerned about.

Keep reading as we take a look at some of the things your pee could be trying to tell you.

1. If You Have Cloudy Pee

If your pee is cloudy, foamy or frothy it could indicate a health issue – or it might just be something you ate.

Conditions which may lead to cloudy pee include:

• Urinary tract infection
• Dehydration
• Sexually transmitted infection
• Kidney stones or other issues with your kidney
• Diabetes

Cloudy urine can also be caused by foods high in vitamin D, fatty foods, or protein-rich foods which are high in phosphorus.

So if you notice your pee is cloudy, take a minute to think about what you’ve eaten recently, and you might find an answer.

2. If Your Pee Has A Strong Odour

Most of the time your pee shouldn’t have a strong smell.

If you do notice it has a smell, there could be a number of reasons for this.

For instance, you may have noticed that first thing in the morning, your pee might have a stronger, ammonia smell to it.

This is because you might be dehydrated from sleeping all night, and is perfectly normal.

However, if you notice this at other times of the day it’s a sign to drink more water.

Certain foods and supplements can also result in stronger smelling pee, namely asparagus and vitamin B6.

Other reasons your pee might smell strongly include bladder infection, sexually transmitted infection, or type 2 diabetes.

The bottom line is, if your pee smells unusually bad, and you can’t trace it back to the asparagus you had with your dinner, it might be time to see your naturopathic doctor.

3. If It Burns When You Pee

Peeing is a part of life – we all have to drink water and other fluids to survive, so we all pee.

And because of this, peeing should not be painful.

Painful urination also called dysuria, could feel like itching, stinging, or a burning sensation.

Most commonly, this occurs due to a urinary tract infection, especially if the pain is at the start of urination.

If you feel pain after peeing, it might be due to an issue with the bladder.

In addition to urinary tract infections, other causes of painful peeing can include kidney infections and kidney stones, inflammation of the urethra, enlarged prostate, or inflammation of the vagina.

4. If You Have Blood In Your Pee

If your pee is red or pink, it could be a sign there is blood in it (or it might mean you’ve been eating blackberries and beets).

Some conditions which can cause blood in the urine include:

• Lead or mercury poisoning
• Urinary tract infection
• Kidney stones
• Cysts
• Tumours
• Enlarged prostate

Blood in your urine is a definite sign for concern, and a reason to contact your doctor or naturopath right away.

5. If You Have Unusual Colour Pee

We talked about pink pee above, but there are other colours which might make an appearance in your toilet bowl too.

Let’s have a look at some of them and what they might mean:

Dark, or “honey brown”

This can be a sign of dehydration, or more seriously indicate liver problems

Orange

If your pee looks more like orange juice, it might be due to medications or supplements.

Vitamin B2, vitamin C, isoniazid, or phenazopyridine can all be causes of orange urine.

It could also be due to orange foods such as carrots, or food dyes.

Blue or green

This is most likely because of dyes in medication or food.

If you haven’t eaten anything blue lately though, talk to your doctor because there are a few rare conditions which can also cause this.

Pale or transparent

If your pee is so pale you can barely tell it apart from water, it means you’re well hydrated.

6. If You Pee A Lot

How much you pee will depend on how much you drink throughout the day, and can be affected by factors such as medications and whether or not someone is pregnant.

On average, most people will pee about eight times per day, and if you are doing so at a significantly higher rate, even though you’re not taking in higher than average amounts of fluids, it could be a sign of a health issue.

Some conditions which might result in you peeing more often include:

• Overactive bladder
• Interstitial cystitis (and issue with the wall of your bladder)
• Vaginitis
• Enlarged prostate
• Kidney disease
• Urinary tract infection
• Diabetes

Book An Appointment With Dr. Sheila Dyer, ND

Are you worried about your pee?

Have you been noticing odd colours, which can’t be accounted for by your diet, or has it suddenly become painful to urinate?

Are you peeing more than usual, or can’t make it through the night without a trip to the bathroom or two?

I’m Dr. Sheila ND, a naturopathic doctor in Toronto, and I want to help.

I will work with you to determine the root cause of your symptoms and work with you to provide a treatment plan to help get things functioning normally again.

Contact me, Dr. Sheila, today for more information or to set up a consultation.