BS: Why is urine yellow?

Subject: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 May 10 - 12:31 AM

Another vital question that has never been answered here! ;-)

Come on, science guys. This is your chance to shine.

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 May 10 - 12:40 AM

It's not.

Its color can vary from clear to nearly black, depending on what's wrong with you. It's yellow when you're dehydrated and it's concentrated; it can be red or pinkish from blood or nearly black from bile. It can taste sweetish in cases of diabetes (or so I'm told) and can contain "gravel" from bladder or kidney stones if you look at it under a microscope.

Which brings to mind a couple of lab techs I knew. Call them John and Mary.

They were working late one night back in the days before computers did all the work. Around 2 a.m. it was slow and they were catching up on the routine bloods and urines that had come in during the day. John was working on one that was so dark you couldn't see through it.

He did the pH, the specific gravity, and then put it under a microscope. It was FULL of what appeared to be sand. The patient was obviously very, very ill but John couldn't figure out from what. So he called Mary for a consult.

Mary looked long through the microscope and then picked up the specimen contain, sniffed it, and drank some.

Coffee. So playing along, they wrote up a report that the patient was suffering from acute arsenical poisoning.

Some days later John was drawing bloods up on the floor and impishly asked for a cup of coffee. The nurses at the station hurried to assure him that the coffee machine was broken.

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 25 May 10 - 12:59 AM

So you know if you're coming or going?



















I'll get me coat...

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 25 May 10 - 01:00 AM

So you know whether you're coming or going?

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 May 10 - 01:01 AM

Tsk. Such a thorough answer. Yes, I know that it's clear when one is not dehydrated. And what does that indicate? It indicates that most of the North American populace IS dehydrated most of the time. People generally do not drink enough water. Instead they drink coffee, tea, soft drinks, and other stuff like that, most of which dehydrates them further.

Urine can also turn reddish when you eat beats. This can come as quite a shock to some people, if they haven't eaten beets before...or in a long time.

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: mousethief
Date: 25 May 10 - 01:12 AM

So when one's urine is yellow, what is it in the urine that makes it yellow?

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 May 10 - 02:02 AM

Yeah, that was the original question.

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: catspaw49
Date: 25 May 10 - 02:08 AM

A pigment in Urea called "Urochrome." I'm sure you dumbasses can look it up.....I think Paul Simon wrote a song about it.....................

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Little Robyn
Date: 25 May 10 - 02:18 AM

Mine was bright blue for 3 days after the surgery - from the dye they injected in me.
And it goes green when I've had asparagus!
Robyn

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Micca
Date: 25 May 10 - 03:27 AM

Seamus, the full thing is why is urine yellow and Sperm white?... so you know if you are going or coming!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 25 May 10 - 03:44 AM

I had bright blue pee after taking 'DeWitt's back and kidney pills' once. Turned some heads in the stones!

DeG

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 25 May 10 - 04:43 AM

Apparently some drugs used to treat kidney problems can turn your urine green.

An Australian friend of mine, from Perth, once told me the following story: An Irishman, living in Perth, assured all of his mates that Irishmen pee green on St. Patricks day and took bets on it. What he didn't tell them was that his girl friend was a nurse who had access to the appropriate kidney drugs.

On St. Pat's day they all followed him into the gents - and he won rather a lot of money!

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Leadfingers
Date: 25 May 10 - 04:55 AM

Urine is yellow so that you know which snow NOT to use to make the coffee

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: bubblyrat
Date: 25 May 10 - 06:23 AM

When I was about seven years old,in the 1950s, we used to make our pee go blue by taking Carters Little Liver Pills and A) it was funny and B) my rum-soaked organ is still functioning.
                I went to a "gathering" of Folkies at Easter,where our hosts live in a house not serviced by the town drains ,and who rely,therefore, on a "cess-pit" (still surprisingly common in the UK) in their garden --- They were keen not to "overload" the system, particularly not with the VAST quantities of beer & ale being ingested, so the following note appeared in the outdoor "privvy"
   If It's Yellow, Let It Mellow ;
    If It's Brown, Flush It Down.
.....it wasn't long before a song ensued (to the tune of "Mellow Yellow", naturally).Great Fun !

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: bubblyrat
Date: 25 May 10 - 06:27 AM

In any case, if it WASN'T yellow, we would not have been able to chant, at Infants' School,whilst pointing to the appropriate parts, --
" Milk ! Milk ! Lemonade ! ;
    Round the corner,Chocolate's made ! "

all part of the learning process, you see ??

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Ed T
Date: 25 May 10 - 06:36 AM

It s due to urobilins, a breakdown product of the bile pigment bilirubin (itself a breakdown of part of hemoglobin, from worn-out red blood cells). Bilirubin is also excreted in the feces and colors feces brown.


More info on "foamy urine or bubbly urine", for your analysis:)
http://www.urinecolors.com/protein_in_urine.php

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: gnu
Date: 25 May 10 - 07:11 AM

Ed T... "for your analysis"

Hahahaaa.

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: catspaw49
Date: 25 May 10 - 07:33 AM

And the pigment created is called urochrome which is what colors the urine......but I already said that..........

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: GUEST,bankley
Date: 25 May 10 - 08:39 AM

cuz it's cowardly ?

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 May 10 - 08:53 AM

Well-known joke involves man in hospital/nursing home/homecare putting apple juice into a urine-specimen jar and drinking it in front of the caregiver.

I thought I might try offering a jar to my doctor- he's such a character and I ALWAYS take a show and tell item. Apple-cran to discuss the latest UTI, perhaps.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: pdq
Date: 25 May 10 - 09:25 AM

Urine isn't yellow, it's chicken!

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 May 10 - 10:58 AM

Sperm White...a new color for paint..."Yes, we're having the living room done over in Sperm White...."

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Michael
Date: 25 May 10 - 11:31 AM

In Sperm White? Wanker!

Mike

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 May 10 - 11:32 AM

Well, it would go well with any colour furniture, right?

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Micca
Date: 25 May 10 - 11:56 AM

Rap, does it come in any other shades?

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 May 10 - 12:21 PM

Well, there's Sperm Whale....

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 May 10 - 12:23 PM

Reminds me of the old tale of Sperm White and Seven Dwarfs.

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: mousethief
Date: 25 May 10 - 12:42 PM

You are what you eat.

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: GUEST
Date: 25 May 10 - 12:59 PM

Oh dear, I'm my ex girl friend!

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Alice
Date: 25 May 10 - 01:35 PM

Coffee, etc., do not dehydrate you.

CLICK HERE


The Straight Talk
In his review, "Caffeine, Body Fluid-Electrolyte Balance, and Exercise Performance," Lawrence E. Armstrong, a professor of exercise physiology at the University of Connecticut disproves the notion that caffeinated beverages rob us of our precious fluids. By reviewing the scientific research on the subject, he concludes that although caffeine, like water, is a mild diuresis (it increases excretion of urine), moderate caffeine consumption does not produce a "fluid-electrolyte imbalance" that can affect health or exercise performance. Furthermore, we retain roughly the same amount of fluid after drinking a caffeinated beverage as we do after drinking water.

Even more encouraging for habitual coffee consumers is the finding that those with caffeine tolerance have reduced likelihood that a fluid electrolyte imbalance will occur. The more regular your caffeine habit, the more fluid your body is conditioned to retain.

Other findings support his conclusions. A small study done at the University of Nebraska tested the body weight, urine output, and blood of eighteen subjects after they consumed caffeinated and non-caffeinated beverages. They determined that there was "no significant differences in the effect of various combinations of beverages on hydration status of healthy adult males." The Institute of Medicine expert panel on water and electrolyte intake asserts that the diuretic effects of caffeine are transient, and that coffee, tea, and colas can contribute to total water intake.

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 May 10 - 02:39 PM

Little Hawk, mine isn't yellow -- you might want to see a doctor if urine is.

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 May 10 - 02:52 PM

It's strictly a case of regulating my daily water intake, Rapaire. When I remember to drink enough water (about 4 large glasses per day), the urine isn't yellow. When I forget to drink enough water, it is.

Alice, that is interesting info you posted there. Sounds reasonable to me. I think the main point is that people would be better off on the whole if they drank more water and less of the caffeinated and the sugary, carbonated drinks. Agreed? I have found that discontinuing the coffee habit improved my sleeping patterns, my digestion, and my health in general. I almost never drink it anymore. I do drink a fair bit of green tea.

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Alice
Date: 25 May 10 - 04:32 PM

Coffee and tea are food beverages.

Processed sugary stuff with additives are a different story.

Coffee has gotten a bad rap. As long as the caffeine doesn't adversely affect your blood pressure, coffee is a good antioxidant beverage. Research suggests it may lower the risk of liver cancer, colon cancer, Parkinson's disease, type II diabetes, and gout.

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 May 10 - 04:41 PM

Fine. ;-) Just don't expect me to drink the awful stuff, okay? I used to love it, and I was definitely addicted to it, but now I think it tastes terrible.

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Lox
Date: 25 May 10 - 04:53 PM

The answer is simple ....



.... beer!

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 25 May 10 - 04:56 PM

This may rock you to your core....but....

I don't drink beer either. ;-D

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 May 10 - 07:02 PM

Single malt? Fine brandy? Single barrel Kentucky bourbon? VSOP Cognac? A superb rum?

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Alice
Date: 25 May 10 - 07:11 PM

Funny thing about coffee, people either love it or hate it.
I started drinking coffee when I was nine years old. There was always a "pot on" in our home. But, when I was pregnant, just the smell of coffee would make me sick.

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 26 May 10 - 12:57 AM

Well, it smells good, Alice. I think that's a strong part of the attraction. But it tastes bloody awful....unless you either load it up with cream and sugar (as most people do) or you gradually develop "a taste for it"...as one can do with bad tasting stuff over a period of time.

Beer also tastes bloody awful at first...to a child, for example...but one can develop a taste for it later with repeated exposure. I never liked it much, but I did get sort of used to it for a few years in my early 20s to the point where I sort of liked it at times. I never liked it that much, though, and I found that it made me feel dull and sort of generally cruddy, even in rather small amounts. I never drink it at all anymore.

My general rule is, I have to like the taste of something. If it tastes sweet or savoury or like a fresh fruit or a vegetable or a stew or a soup, I like it. I like certain spicy foods too, such as Indian or Thai cuisine. I genuinely don't like the taste of most hard liquor, beer, coffee, and most "party" munchies, most of which are WAY too salty for my taste.

I like the taste of wine if it isn't too "dry" (meaning sour). I like the odd hard liquor...if it is sweet enough...Grand Marnier, for instance, tastes delicious to me.

If I don't like the taste, I'm simply not interested...regardless of whether the darned stuff gives me a "buzz" or not...

If the smell of coffee made you feel sick when you were pregnant, your body was probably telling you "that stuff is not good for you right now".

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: mousethief
Date: 26 May 10 - 02:54 AM

"Dry" doesn't mean "sour" in wine, it means low residual sugar. "Sour" has to do with the amount of acids. Something can have high sugar and high acids, low sugar and high acids, high sugar and low acids, or low sugar and low acids. Only the combinations with low sugar are dry; the combinations with high acids are sour.

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 26 May 10 - 08:54 PM

It means "sour" to me. ;-D I don't care for dry wine. I like wine with high residual sugar. However, if "dry" wine doesn't mean "sour" wine to you, I can live with that.

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: mousethief
Date: 26 May 10 - 09:44 PM

I prefer wines that are low in sugar, low in acid, and high in tannins. Very dry but not sour.

Then again my youngest son uses "sour" when something is bitter. I wonder if he can't taste the difference. Never bothered to do a differentiation taste-test with him; doesn't really handicap him any, except when he looks foolish on a web-based discussion. <:D

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Don Firth
Date: 26 May 10 - 09:54 PM

You were expecting maybe . . . plaid?

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 26 May 10 - 10:41 PM

Beer is bitter. Dry wine is sour. ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: mousethief
Date: 26 May 10 - 11:09 PM

Plaid looks pretty foolish in online discussions too.

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 27 May 10 - 09:47 AM

Asparagus will not only colour it green, but give it a strong odour....

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 May 10 - 11:40 AM

Yeah, I've noticed that too.

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: mousethief
Date: 27 May 10 - 11:59 AM

If it's yellow, let it mellow
If it's brown, flush it down
If it's green, ...?

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Micca
Date: 27 May 10 - 12:09 PM

....Where's it been?

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: gnu
Date: 27 May 10 - 03:52 PM

What about cut green beans?

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 27 May 10 - 04:01 PM

I don't think those have any noticeable effect, do they?

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: BK Lick
Date: 28 May 10 - 01:49 AM

I've often heard it said that the reason beer goes through one so quickly
is that it doesn't need to stop to change color.

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 28 May 10 - 09:40 AM

Aw come on, you guys are just taking the piss now!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: GUEST,Songbob
Date: 28 May 10 - 01:46 PM

Two things:

In Roman times, if a healer suspected diabetes, he would take a urine sample and place it (in a saucer) near an ant-hill. If the ants were quick to flock to it, there was sugar in it and the patient had diabetes.

Also, once a country doctor told his patient to bring in urine samples for him and his wife (they were both ailing). The gent arrived with two rather large Mason jars, filled with yellow liquids.

The doctor said, "Good God! Is that all urine?"

The farmer answered, "No, that un's herr'n," pointing to one of the jars.


Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 29 May 10 - 12:42 PM

All this talk, and we still don't really know why urine is yellow! When will we get to the bottom of this mystery?

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: gnu
Date: 29 May 10 - 03:25 PM

It is what it is. You'll just have to take a leak of faith.

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: Riginslinger
Date: 29 May 10 - 10:38 PM

"Why is urine yellow?"

          It runs!

Subject: RE: BS: Why is urine yellow?
From: mousethief
Date: 30 May 10 - 01:41 AM

I'm in up to my knees. Urine up to your neck.