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nutrition

All information on nutrition

At a glance

Our urine is a reflection of what we take daily and how our body processes it. Among other factors, diet is therefore a decisive influencing factor on the composition of urine. Both eating and drinking habits should therefore be included in the assessment of a urine finding.

Our drinking behavior has a direct impact on how much urine the body produces. If you consume a lot of fluid, you will excrete more urine. If little fluid is supplied, less is excreted. The amount of urine excreted daily can also decrease if the body loses a lot of water (e.g. due to diarrhea, vomiting or profuse sweating).

Our diet can also influence the amount of urine. For example, a high-protein diet can lead to increased urine production, as the body converts the protein into water-soluble urea and excretes it through the kidneys.

Normally, urine is a clear, light yellow to colourless liquid. The yellow color is mainly produced by urochrome (degradation product of the red blood dye hemoglobin). The less you drink, the darker the urine becomes. Color aberrations (red, orange, brown, green, etc.) can either indicate illness or medication, or result from the consumption of certain foods.

Further information

Possible colorings and their meaning are, for example:

bright yellow: often by taking supplements with vitamin B2

yellow-green / blue-green: may indicate a Pseudomonas infection

yellow-brown: often after rhubarb consumption (for acidic urine)

pink: often after rhubarb consumption (for alkaline urine)

red: There may be blood in the urine. But dyes can also be the cause, e.g. from medication or beetroot.

red-brown: There may be blood in the urine.

brown, with yellow or brown foam: Cause can be e.g. liver damage or blocked bile ducts.

Urine consists mainly of water (>95%). In addition, various organic and inorganic substances are found in the urine:

 

Organic substances:

  • Urea
  • Uric acid
  • Creatinine
  • Amino acids
  • Ketone body
  • Protein

 

Inorganic substances:

  • Sodium ions
  • Potassium ions
  • Ammonium ions
  • Calcium ions
  • Chloride ions
  • Phosphate

The pH of urine may fluctuate due to nutrition. PH values of about 5.0 to 6.0 are considered normal.
If the diet consists of a mixed diet that also contains meat, the urine is usually slightly acidic (pH 5.6 to 7.0). A vegetarian diet, on the other hand, makes the urine a little more alkaline (i.e. less acidic).

Sources

  • Roche Diagnostics Deutschland GmbH (2014): Kompendium der Urinanalyse. Urinteststreifen und Mikroskopie, 1-196
  • Roche Diagnostics Deutschland GmbH (2009): Nierendiagnostik Grundlagen der Labormedizin, 1-60
  • Nagel, G. (2018): Urine (urine), URL: https://www.onmeda.de/anatomie/urin.html
  • Schroeder, U. et al. (02/2017): Übersäuerung – basische Ernährung – Entschlackung, Tritime-Magazine
Status of information: 2022
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