Have you ever stopped to think about why pee is yellow?
To answer this question, we first have to know what pee is.
Pee is a liquid formed in the urinary tract that carries toxic substances out of our body. The pee of humans and other animals is formed by water and other substances dissolved in it, such as salts, urea and toxins.
In animals, the blood is filtered and impurities come out in the form of pee
In the animal's body, the liver filters the blood and removes impurities from it. These impurities are sent to the kidneys, organs that are part of the urinary system, to be eliminated from the body.
Bilirubin is an impurity that comes from filtering the blood. In our kidneys, bilirubin is transformed into urobilinogen. Urobilinogen is the substance responsible for giving our pee's yellowish color.
Urobilinogen is the substance responsible for the yellowish color in our pee
The normal color of our pee is yellow, but sometimes we may notice changes in the shades of yellow, or even color changes.
When we drink a lot of water, our pee turns a very pale yellow, almost transparent. This means that our bodies are well hydrated, and that urobilinogen is well dissolved in the pee.
When we notice that our pee is dark yellow, it is a sign that we are not drinking as much water as we should. Thus, the urobilinogen is very concentrated in the urine, making it very yellow.
Normally the pee color is yellow, but it can change depending on the food we eat
Sometimes we can see colors other than yellow in our pee. This is due to some pigments present in the food we eat or in medications we take to treat some illnesses.
Paula Louredo
Graduated in Biology
