The urine of a healthy and adequately hydrated person should be light in color and have little odor. Health conditions, medications, supplements, the food you eat, and dehydration can all affect the smell of your urine. Natural remedies can sometimes help, depending on the cause of your smelly urine.
If you are concerned about the odor of your urine, you should ask yourself these questions:
The answers to the above questions may help you connect the dots and figure out the cause of your urine's odor.
Urine will have a strong smell and dark color (like tea) when you are dehydrated. If you consume a lot of caffeine or alcohol, you may be dehydrated even if you drink enough fluids. If you exercise a lot, even if you drink a lot, you could be dehydrated. Try to drink more water or herbal tea if you do not have plentiful and pale urine. Fluids are best consumed over the course of a day. You will flush too much liquid at a time out of your body. Massive amounts of fluid at once can cause dangerous imbalances in your body.
(Note – B vitamins can cause "sunshine yellow" urine. This bright yellow colored urine is not a cause for concern if the vitamins cause it; it is just your body flushing out the excess.)
Certain foods can cause a sulfur smell (think of the smell of eggs boiling.) Garlic, onions, and asparagus all have the potential to cause this type of odor in your urine.
An ammonia smell can be caused by dehydration, infection, liver damage, and certain foods (especially nitrogen rich food.)
A sweet or sugary smell can be caused by glucose (sugar) or ketones in the urine. Often people with diabetes will "spill sugar" into their urine when their blood sugar is high. Ketones in the urine can result from low carb/high fat and protein diets where the body is using ketones instead of glucose as fuel. Ketones may also be present in the urine in a person with anorexia.
Medications and vitamin supplements can cause your urine to smell "off" because some of the components of them will be excreted through the urine. An unfamiliar smell in your urine is not uncommon when you begin taking a medication. After you have surgery, your body will be flushing out the anesthesia, which can also cause your urine to have an "off" odor.
If you have been exposed to chemicals, your body will try to eliminate them, which can affect your urine's odor. For example, some paints are quite toxic, and your body can absorb those chemicals, primarily if you paint a large area with little ventilation. Your body may put off a chemical smell for days after this type of exposure.
Foul-smelling urine could be caused by something as simple as what you ate for dinner. It can also be caused by infection. However, if you have an infection, the smell will not disappear over time, and it will likely get worse if you do not treat it. Other signs of illness are blood in the urine or cloudy urine.
You can buy urine test strips at the pharmacy. Basic test strips will check protein, glucose (sugar), pH, and ketone levels, and this will give you quite a bit of information to work with. You can also buy test strips that can check for white blood cells or red blood cells in the urine, alerting you to infection or blood in the urine.
If you have a fever, pain when urinating, or other severe or unusual symptoms, you should consult a health professional for advice.
Taking the apple cider vinegar tonic addresses many health issues that can cause your urine to be off. It can fight a mild urinary tract infection, restore proper pH to the body, detoxify the body, and balance blood sugar. 1 Tablespoon in a glass of water once or twice a day is a typical amount to take.
Activated charcoal can also help a variety of the above issues. It neutralizes odors, helps with infection, and can benefit your body detox from medication or chemicals. Take 1-2 tablets 2-3 times daily. Do not take charcoal within two hours of any medicine. Ideally, it should be taken on an empty stomach, but taking it with food is okay if that is the only time you can take it. It would help if you always took it with plenty of water to avoid the risk of constipation. You can find activated charcoal at your local health food store or online.
Have you dealt with an unusual odor in your urine? Did you find the cause and treatment? Please send us some feedback!
Make sure to read our Reader Q&A section as well for clues to your condition.
