A popcorn smell or sweet-smelling urine is often an early indicator of untreated or undiagnosed diabetes. Diabetes affects your blood sugar levels and causes high ketone levels. The excess sugar and ketones make their way into your urine, resulting in that tell-tale popcorn smell.
Fruity-smelling urine can be a sign of other diseases and complications. Diabetic ketoacidosis. Ketoacidosis is a dangerous complication of diabetes that happens when ketones build up in your blood. It causes symptoms like fruity breath, sweet-smelling urine, excessive thirst, and tiredness.
A person with uncontrolled diabetes may have blood glucose levels that are dangerously high. The body tries to get rid of the extra glucose in the urine, and this can cause a sweet smell. People with sweet-smelling urine due to diabetes may notice other symptoms, including: exhaustion.
Common causes of smelly pee
certain types of food and drink, like asparagus or coffee. not drinking enough fluids (dehydration) some medicines. vitamin B6 supplements.
Ammonia odor happens when chemicals in urine are concentrated due to a lack of water. In addition to an ammonia-like odor, another telltale sign of dehydration is bubbles in a person's urine. And if someone is dehydrated, their urine is dark honey or brown color, rather than a pale yellow or gold.
Liver disease
Always see your doctor if you notice your urine has an unusual, ammonia-like odor. Other symptoms that may indicate your liver needs attention include dark brown or orange-hued urine.
This may be due to a UTI or even to dysbiosis, where harmful bacteria increase in number and take over the good bacteria in the body. The excess bacteria may change the smell or look of the urine as it sits in the bladder, which can lead to a sulfuric smell.
Pee that smells like ammonia
The odor suggests that bacteria may be swimming around in your urinary system, most likely in your urethra, kidneys or bladder. Urine showing signs of a UTI also may be cloudy or even a bit bloody.
Most changes in urine odor are temporary and don't mean you have a serious illness, particularly if you have no other symptoms. When an unusual urine odor is caused by an underlying medical condition, other symptoms are also present. If you're concerned about the odor of your urine, talk to your doctor.
In most cases, prediabetes won't cause changes to urine smells.
Pee doesn't usually have a strong smell. But some foods -- especially asparagus, which has a smelly sulfur compound -- can change the odor. So can vitamin B-6 supplements. When you're dehydrated and your pee gets very concentrated, it can smell strongly of ammonia.
Pale or transparent yellow urine
Diabetes insipidus is a condition in which the body produces excess urine. It can cause people to pass large quantities of light-colored urine every time they urinate. It can also cause people to feel very thirsty, leading them to drink fluids frequently.
The process of breaking down fat for energy releases byproducts called ketones. Acetone is a type of ketone, and it is the same fruity-smelling substance found in some nail polish removers. If the breath of a person with diabetes smells of acetone, this suggests that there are high levels of ketones in their blood.
Urine ketones are usually measured as a "spot test." This is available in a test kit that you can buy at a drug store. The kit contains dipsticks coated with chemicals that react with ketone bodies. A dipstick is dipped in the urine sample. A color change indicates the presence of ketones.
If you notice a smell that is fruity or similar to nail polish, thats a sign that your body is in ketosis.
A fishy smell in pee can result from dietary factors, an infection, and other health issues. It can also be a sign of trimethylaminuria (“fish odor syndrome”) which often has a genetic cause. If fishy-smelling urine is the only symptom, a person may want to wait for a couple of days to see if it clears up.
If your bladder is full, your urine may hit the toilet at a faster speed than normal, causing the water to stir and create bubbles. Dehydration. If you haven't had much water to drink and are dehydrated, your urine will be more concentrated. When your urine is concentrated, it may foam or bubble.
You have a urinary tract infection.
In fact, pee that has a strong ammonia smell, or foul or slightly sweet-smelling urine is often the first indication that you have a UTI. Basically, the strange urine odor is the bacteria's fault (because bacteria is what causes UTIs in the first place).
Foul-Smelling Urine: Vitamins & Medication
Kaaki says vitamin B and vitamin D can cause a similar smell. Keep in mind these vitamins are in most multivitamins. Dr. Kaaki says medication from the sulfa drug group can also cause your urine to smell bad.
Foul-smelling urine may be due to bacteria. Sweet-smelling urine may be a sign of uncontrolled diabetes or a rare disease of metabolism. Liver disease and certain metabolic disorders may cause musty-smelling urine.
A person living with a health condition such as diabetes or kidney disease may also have sweat that smells like ammonia.