A leading pharmacist has issued an urgent health warning, urging Britons to monitor their urine colour as it can provide crucial early warnings about their wellbeing.
Wendy Lee, a pharmacist from Well Pharmacy, emphasised that while urine colour changes are often harmless, they can sometimes indicate serious underlying conditions ranging from severe dehydration to kidney disease and even cancer.
What Your Urine Colour Reveals
Healthy urine should typically appear pale yellow, with most adults needing to urinate between four and seven times daily. However, numerous factors can affect both frequency and colour, including fluid intake, temperature, medication, and overall health.
"A healthy person has yellow urine, but it can turn a wide variety of other shades depending on what you might have eaten," Lee explained. "It can also be an indicator of something more serious so it is important that you pay attention to its colour before you flush."
Understanding The Colour Spectrum
Bright yellow urine often results from taking B-vitamins, particularly B2, but can also signal dehydration. The NHS recommends adults drink six to eight glasses (1.5-2 litres) of water daily to maintain proper hydration.
Amber or orange urine may indicate dehydration but could also point to liver or bile duct problems, especially if accompanied by pale stools or jaundice. Lee advises consulting your GP if you experience these additional symptoms.
Pink or red urine might simply come from eating beetroot, blackberries or rhubarb, but could also indicate blood in urine, potentially signalling UTIs, kidney stones, an enlarged prostate or, less commonly, cancer.
Brownish urine should "ring alarm bells" according to Lee, as it can indicate severe dehydration or liver diseases like hepatitis or cirrhosis. However, foods like rhubarb, fava beans or aloe, along with certain medications, can also cause darkening.
Rarer Colours and Their Meanings
Blue or green urine, while unusual, can result from consuming heavily coloured foods or medications like cimetidine or amitriptyline. When accompanied by burning sensations, it might indicate a urinary tract infection.
White or cloudy urine with a strong odour and pain during urination commonly signals a UTI, though it could also indicate dehydration, STIs, or kidney stones.
Purple urine occurs in patients using catheters through Purple Urine Bag Syndrome (PUBS), where bacteria react with urine chemicals to create purple pigments, usually indicating an underlying UTI.
Lee stressed that while most colour changes are temporary and harmless, "anything extreme or long term should be checked out by booking a visit to your local pharmacist or GP."
Under the NHS Pharmacy First scheme, pharmacists can provide support and treatment for conditions like UTIs without needing to see a GP first.
