What colour should urine be?

WE’VE all woken up the day after a heavy night out to dark urine, but that dark shade is usually a one off fuelled by booze.

But what should the colour of your urine usually be and when should you see a GP?

Dr Shree Datta, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at  in London said most adults pass between 800 to 2,000 millilitres a day if they have a recommended minimum fluid intake of about 2 litres.

She explained that visiting the toilet between six and eight times in every 24-hour period is standard territory.

In order to spot the colour of your urine, Dr Shree advised having a clear white toilet bowel – so you can spot any abnormalities.

She said: “Your urine should be a light straw colour, rather than completely clear or a dark cloudy apple juice colour.

“Having a white toilet also helps identify blood in your urine”.

If your pee is cloudy it could be a sign of a kidney infection and in this case you would need to speak to your GP, she said.

In general, urine carries a yellow pigment, so when you’re hydrated you should have urine that is a light yellow to clear-ish colour.

If you’re dehydrated – for example if you have consumed too much alcohol then it’s likely your urine will be a dark amber colour.

Different foods can also affect our urine colour as pigments can travel through the digestive tract and through to your urine.

If your urine is completely clear then you might be drinking a little too much water.

It could also indicate liver issues, so if you’re not consuming large amounts of water then you should see your GP.

If you have a lot of vitamin B in your blood then your urine might appear bright yellow.

BURNING RED

If it’s red then it doesn’t always mean you should panic as foods with dark pigmentations such as beetroot, rhubarb and blueberries can cause this.

However there are other causes of red urine including an enlarged prostate, kidney stones and tumours in the bladder and kidney.

Cloudy urine could be the sign of a urinary tract infection (UTI).

Urinary tract infections can become serious if left unchecked, damaging the kidneys and entering into the bloodstream.

They can be treated with antibiotics, while upping your fluid intake, taking over-the-counter painkillers and drinking cranberry juice are also advised.

BLUE OR GREEN

Having urine that is brightly colour is usually down to food colouring.

However a pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterial infection can also cause your pee to change colour dramatically.

This is a rare condition and is usually connected to your diet. If you haven’t consumed something with lots of food colouring in and your peeing green or blue you should see your GP.

Other colours of urine, such as orange, can again be down to the use of dyes but can also be down to dehydration or jaundice, dark brown urine could be down to certain medications and an indicator of liver disease.