Why is the urine sometimes dark yellow? | Why is the urine actually yellow?

Why is the urine sometimes dark yellow?

The urine is sometimes naturally dark yellow. Dark yellow urine occurs in healthy people and is not necessarily indicative of disease. The color of the urine is strongly influenced by the fluid intake.

This means that if we drink less, the urine is less diluted and therefore the color becomes darker. Dark yellow urine often occurs in the morning when we have not drunk much or when we drink little fluid during the day. Another reason for dark yellow urine can be a loss of fluid.

When we sweat a lot, for example during sports, the body tries to save water and therefore excretes less fluid to counteract dehydration. Then the urine is highly concentrated and dark yellow. The body behaves in the same way when we lose fluid due to diarrhoea or vomiting. This topic might also be of interest to you: Dark urine

Is it possible to infer diseases from the color of the urine?

The color of the urine can be an indication of various diseases or complaints. A highly concentrated, dark yellow urine occurs with low fluid intake, but also with diarrhoea and vomiting, i.e. gastrointestinal complaints. If the urine is yellow-green or blue-green, an infection with the bacterium Pseudomonas may be present.

These germs can cause inflammation of the heart, lungs, wounds, respiratory tract and urinary tract and are often present in hospitals. The smell and color of a Pseudomonas infection are very characteristic of the pathogens. Red urine can have harmless causes, for example by eating a lot of beetroot or by certain drugs.

Red coloration can also be caused by blood in the urine and must therefore be examined by a doctor. Red-brown urine can also get its color from blood. Blood in the urine can have various causes such as urinary tract infections, inflammation of the kidneys, bladder or kidney stones, tumors (bladder, urethra or kidney cancer), injuries or foreign bodies in the urethra or vascular diseases.

In men, blood in the urine can be an indication of prostate inflammation (prostatitis) or prostate enlargement. In women, blood in the urine can be a sign of menstrual bleeding. Blood in the urine may be harmless or indicate one of the above-mentioned diseases and must therefore be examined in each case. If the urine is brown with yellow or brown foam, liver damage or blocked bile ducts may be present.