Pee is usually clear or pale yellow, with a mild smell. Things that can often make your pee smell stronger include: certain types of food and drink, like asparagus or coffee.
Drinking Coffee
Coffee is another food that could change the odor of your pee. Coffee metabolites, or the byproducts that come from coffee when it's broken down in your body, can make urine smell, Dr. Dutta said.
Coffee contains several beneficial compounds, including polyphenols such as hydroxycinnamic acids, that give it its signature smell and health benefits. When these compounds are broken down in your body, they become waste products called metabolites, some of which are released in your urine.
certain food and drinks, including asparagus, beer, garlic and coffee, may temporarily give urine a stronger smell. certain medicines and vitamin and mineral supplements can also alter the odour of urine – but never stop taking any medication without speaking to your GP first.
Caffeine is a diuretic
This means that when you drink coffee, it causes the body to send signals to your pituitary gland that inhibits the production of the ADH hormone, which in turn causes the kidneys to not reabsorb water. This will increase the excretion of water via urine.
Coffee has no consistent effect on urine pH, but dehydration can make urine more acidic. Because of the body's immense capacity to maintain blood pH, however, it is unlikely your friend will develop medical issues due to low urine pH.
Diet and dehydration
Other foods and drinks that can cause this include: caffeine, which can act as a diuretic. asparagus, which can release of sulfur in the urine. Brussel sprouts and cabbage, which release methyl mercaptan that can cause a strong fish or rancid smell.
Fish Odor Syndrome
Also called trimethylaminuria, this genetic condition can give your pee a fishy smell. It happens when your body can't break down trimethylamine. You end up getting rid of the compound through your pee, sweat, breath, and other fluids. It doesn't mean you're unhealthy.
Pee that smells like ammonia
If you detect a hint of ammonia in your urine, it could be a sign of a urinary tract infection (UTI). The odor suggests that bacteria may be swimming around in your urinary system, most likely in your urethra, kidneys or bladder.
What Does Diabetic Urine Smell Like? One warning sign of diabetes or high blood sugar is urine that smells sweet or fruity. The sweetness comes from sugar in your urine and is a sign your body is trying to get rid of extra sugar in your blood.
Urine concentration: It's normal for urine to have a stronger odor first thing in the morning. After a night's sleep, urine is more concentrated and odorous as well as brighter yellow in color. Dehydration also increases urine concentration, causing stronger smelling urine.
Urinary tract bacteria infections will usually make urine appear cloudy. Diabetes, a sexually transmitted infection, or kidney disease will also have this effect.
The polyphenols in coffee are absorbed by the digestive tract and put to use, then broken down and excreted in urine. So, if someone drinks a lot of coffee, their urine may contain a high enough concentration of polyphenols and other coffee compounds. This will make it smell like coffee.
In most cases, a healthy person's urine should not have a strong smell. Drinking alcohol or caffeinated drinks such as coffee or tea can also lead to "concentrated or smelly urine", said Dr Khatri.
It's usually caused either by a UTI or an imbalance of “good” and “bad” bacteria naturally found within the body. When caused by bacteria, the bacteria will affect the urine as it sits in or passes through the bladder. This can lead to strong, sulfur-smelling urine.
For example, urine with a lower pH (more acidic) tends to inhibit the growth of bacteria, and urine that is high in ammonia (more alkaline or basic) may impede the body's immune response to a urinary tract infection.
How to make Urine More Alkaline. Changing your diet is the easiest way to make your urine alkaline. Citrus fruit will have an alkalising effect on urine despite being acidic. Other fruits and vegetables are generally more alkaline and help alkalise the urine.
A diet rich in citrus fruits, most vegetables, and legumes will keep the urine alkaline. A diet high in meat and cranberry juice will keep the urine acidic. Urine pH is an important screening test for the diagnosis of renal disease, respiratory disease, and certain metabolic disorders.
One of the most common reasons for strong-smelling pee is dehydration. Everyone's urine has ammonia in it. The more hydrated you are, the less concentrated the ammonia is. But when you're dehydrated, the ammonia concentration is stronger — and so is the smell.
Hyperglycemia and diabetes
High blood sugar is a tell-tale sign of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. If you have diabetes, you may notice your pee smells sweet or fruity. This is because the body is trying to get rid of the excess blood sugar and is disposing of glucose through your urine.
Prediabetes is used to describe blood sugar levels that are higher than normal, but not high enough to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. For some people, noticing that urine smells sweet or fruity can be a first sign that something is different, which can lead to being diagnosed with diabetes.
Dark urine is deeper in color than urine that is usually straw to yellow in color. Darker urine can be different colors, but is usually brown, deep yellow, or maroon.
If you have diabetes insipidus, you'll continue to pee large amounts of watery (dilute), light-colored urine when normally you'd only pee a small amount of concentrated, dark yellow urine.