Though yellow or pale yellow color is considered a normal color of urine the extend or lack of this yellowness can vary healthily. The yellow color gets darker as the concentration of the urine gets higher. Concentration means the proportion of waste products to water in the urine.
Urine darkens when the proportion of waste products to water increases and when less fluid is drink. This may also happen if fluid is lost through sweating or any other means.
The yellow color, normal as it is, comes from a substance known as urochrome. Urochrome is also known as urobilin and is the result of hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that enables oxygen to be taken around the body, breaks down. Since red blood cells are renewed in their millions every day the old ones must be broken down. The urochrome by-product of this process ends up in the urine as a yellow color.
It has been proven only recently that urine color as a reliable way to monitor hydration during exercise. In short urine color could allow us to determine if we have taken in enough fluids or not.
Darker shades of yellow suggest that the person may be dehydrated and need water.
A number of other colors that may appear in urine may, but not necessarily, signal a medical problem. For instance, Orange urine can be caused by drugs. A red color may indicate blood and thereby make it imperative to see a physician. Blood in the urine is known as hematuria.
Antipsychotic and/or antibiotics and laxatives drugs could be responsible for giving urine a brown color.
Deep purple, a condition called porphyria, may indicate a rare metabolic disorder.
Green may be attributed to a number of reasons including use of drugs and other counpounds, antidepressants, dyes, bile pigment, or infection.
Cloudy colored urine may signal a number of medical issues- dehydration, urinary tract infections, kidney disease of kidney stones.
