“Normal urine is pale yellow to amber in color and is clear. Darker urine is often a sign of dehydration. If you notice that your urine is darker than normal and you have no other symptoms, try drinking some more water and see if this helps your urine return to a lighter color,” Alyssa said.
Normal urine should be pale yellow but a light amber colour is also acceptable. If your urine is dark amber, it may suggest that you're dehydrated and it should be rectified by drinking more water.
Is clear urine always a good thing? In most cases, clear urine is a sign that you're well hydrated. And that's a positive thing because good hydration helps your body function at its best. But, in some cases, clear pee may mean that you're drinking too much water and you're too hydrated.
When your kidneys are failing, a high concentration and accumulation of substances lead to brown, red, or purple urine. Studies suggest the urine color is due to abnormal protein or sugar as well as high numbers of cellular casts and red and white blood cells.
Clear urine is a sign of good hydration and potential overhydration. Pale yellow urine is an indicator of good hydration. Dark yellow urine is a sign to drink more fluids. Amber-colored urine can indicate dehydration.
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.
Urinalysis is used to find the cause of – or monitor – urinary tract infections, bleeding in the urinary system, or kidney or liver disease. It can also be used for diabetes, some diseases of the blood, and bladder stones.
Proteinuria is high levels of protein in your pee. If you have proteinuria, you may have to pee more often, and your pee may be foamy or bubbly. You may have general feelings of illness, including nausea, vomiting, tiredness and swelling.
When you're healthy and hydrated, your urine should fall somewhere between colorless and the color of light straw and honey. When you don't consume enough fluids, your urine becomes more concentrated and turns a darker yellow or amber color.
Clear or colorless pee
Pee that's completely colorless and looks like water is a sign that you're overhydrated. (Yep, that's a real thing.) Too much water in your system can dilute your body's delicate balance of water, sodium and electrolytes. Being overhydrated can lead to something called water intoxication.
If your pee is bright yellow
The most common culprit is vitamin B2, also known as riboflavin, which is found in most multivitamins. The neon color in pee is just a harmless sign that you're taking more than your body needs, and the excess is mixing with your pee.
When the kidneys don't function well, urination issues may occur such as needing to urinate more often or seeing blood in your urine. You may also experience urine that's foamy or bubbly—which could be an early sign that protein is getting into your urine due to damaged kidneys.
What's normal and how many times is too frequent to urinate? Most people pee about seven to eight times per day, on average. If you feel the need to pee much more than that, or if you're getting up every hour or 30 minutes to go, you might be frequently urinating.
Signs and symptoms of Stage 1 CKD include: High blood pressure. Swelling in your hands or feet. Urinary tract infections.
Your kidneys remove extra fluids and salt from your body. When they can no longer do this, the fluids and salt build up in your body. This build-up causes swelling, which you may notice in your: Legs.
Some of the most common kidney pain symptoms include: A constant, dull ache in your back. Pain in your sides, under your rib cage or in your abdomen. Severe or sharp pain that comes in waves.
Note: Alcohol, LSD, digoxin, lithium, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and some benzodiazepines, opiates, amphetamine-type stimulants, and most drugs of abuse are not detected by this procedure. For these drugs, the specific confirmation tests should be ordered.
Normal Results
Usually, glucose, ketones, protein, and bilirubin are not detectable in urine.
Your doctor may, for example, request a first morning sample because the urine is more concentrated and therefore it is more likely to show up any abnormalities. Or if the doctor is looking for glucose in the urine they may ask you to collect a sample after a meal. You will probably be asked for a “mid-stream” sample.
If your urine is clear and you're not on a water pill or drinking a lot of water, it may signal an underlying kidney problem or possibly diabetes.
Drinking too much fluid during the evening can cause you to urinate more often during the night. Caffeine and alcohol after dinner can also lead to this problem. Other common causes of urination at night include: Infection of the bladder or urinary tract.