People don’t normally talk about urine nor pay attention to it. It is basically human waste, filtered by kidneys and removed from the body through the urethra. Urine contains many by-products, poisonous soluble substances, toxins, inorganic salts, hormones, proteins that need to be extracted from the blood. Its rich structure has been used by doctors for centuries in diagnosing patients’ health state as it can provide essential data about diseases and diet. Besides, certain visible changes in the urine, such as its color, consistency or odor can give important information about your body and eventual abnormalities. So it is worth having at least basic knowledge about the urine and be aware of what some changes in it tell you.

What causes dark urine
So what makes urine become dark? The most common reason is simple dehydration. However, if you drink enough water and still have a change in urine color, don’t start to panic as it may also be caused by some food you consume, namely beets, blackberries, colorings, some vitamins. In other cases dark urine can represent a symptom of certain health issues, including STDs, internal bleeding and other disorders that require professional medical treatment.

Dehydration
This is the most common reason for dark urine and something to think about in the first place when observing unnatural urine color. When the body does not receive enough water, it increases the concentration of urobilin in the urine. Urobilin is a waste product, resulting from hemoglobin breakdown, necessary for blood cells’ renewal.

Food
Our diet can significantly influence the color of urine. Beans, beets, blackberries, carotene, B vitamins, some food colorings can make it darker. It does not represent any danger for your health and goes away after some time.

Medications
Sometimes urine changes its color as a result of drug use, particularly laxatives, antibiotics, antimalarial drugs or muscle relaxants. Senna and cascara, metronidazole and nitrofurantoin, quinine and chloroquine, methocarbamol are the examples.

Blood presence
Even a small drop of blood can change the urine color to dark yellow or brown. When you think there are blood particles in urine or dark color is not related to dehydration or food you consume, do not hesitate to visit a doctor as it can be the first symptom of an infection, liver problem, kidney stones, STDs, internal trauma or even cancer.

STDs
Some sexually Transmitted Diseases can cause urination disorders, including the change in color, abnormal urine odor or cloudy look. Chlamydia is the primary infection to think about if the urine color change is related to STDs. Hepatitis B is another option.