10reasons for bad urine smell
When you look at the toilet after urinating, and you see a pale yellow color of your urine, this indicates that your kidneys are working well, and that your urine is healthy and normal, but the question here is: What is the smell of this urine? I think you have not thought about this question before, unless you have had an experience that changes the smell of urine to a stinky or unpleasant odor, then you may have thought that this strange smell emanated from your intestines, and not from the urethra.
Below we review the most common causes of foul-smelling urine, and medical advice on whether or not you need to see a doctor.
Reasons for changing the smell of urine:
1. Watering your body with water is not good
Have you noticed that your urine smells like ammonia?
Dr. Mehran Movsaji, a consultant urologist in California, explains that when the body digests and analyzes food proteins, there is a colorless organic compound formed as a result of this digestion and analysis called urea, which is excreted through urine. He also says: Water dilutes urea, so if your hydration is not good as a result of not drinking enough water, the body will store urine for a longer period, which makes the ammonia smell strong and penetrating.
In fact, the solution to the matter is simple, which is to drink more water, if you doYour urine will be a light stretchy, and smell less unpleasant.
2. A difference in your food
Some foods, such as asparagus, change the smell of urine, and not everyone who eats it notices this change in smell. According to a study in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), it was reported that urine produced by people who ate a heavy meal of asparagus Their urine often smells like sulfur, and some may not be able to smell this smell, due to the absence of some genes designated for that.
Dr. Mofsaji says: The culprit here is the sulfur that is abundant in the asparagus plant, but the asparagus plant is not the only one that changes the smell of urine. For example, garlic also contains sulfur, and other foods that change the smell of urine: Fenugreek, cauliflower, and curry. High-protein meals may make urine smell like fish or something bad.
3. Drinking large amounts of coffee
Coffee beans contain a compound called caffeol, which comes out during the roasting of coffee to give it a pleasant taste, which is what we call aroma (coffee flavor), but this substance does not dissolve in water, and this means that it remains cohesive inside the body’s systems, even when it comes out in urine.
Says Dr. S. Adam Ramen, MD, a consultant urologist in Los Angeles, California: "If you drink enough coffee and are stingy with water, your body becomes less hydrated, and the caffeine is more concentrated inside the body, which makes urine and breath smell like coffee."
To sum it up, if your body is dehydrated, and you drink a lot of coffee, your urine will smell like coffee.
4. A urine infection
Dr. Mofsaji says: When an infection occurs in the urine, or in any place within the urinary system, whether it is (urinary infection) or (bladder or kidney infection), the bacteria change the color and smell of urine. You will then notice that your urine has changed its smell to something like fish or ammonia.
In the case of urine infection, its color usually changes to cloudy or sometimes bloody, and since the infection is caused by bacteria, your doctor may prescribe an appropriate antibiotic to eliminate it, and this will inevitably reduce the unpleasant odor of urine, but you may smell a different smell of urine as a result of antibiotics, which will soon disappear within a few days.
5. Taking a new treatment or new nutritional supplement
Anyone who takes multivitamin supplements and then finds their urine has changed to a phosphorous yellow colour; In fact, this is due to the presence of vitamin B within these supplements. Certain vitamins, medications, and nutritional supplements contain ingredients that can change the smell of urine, and sometimes its appearance as well.
Also, some antibiotics may change the smell of urine, because they contain penicillin extracted from a type of fungus that may give urine the smell of mushrooms or yeast, which dissipates after the completion of the antibiotic period.
6. Doing a diet
Have you tried a low-carb diet or the keto diet? When your body has little sugars and starches, it begins to break down fats and fatty acids to produce energy, and the result is the production of large amounts of ketones, which are a type of acid produced by the liver, and when these ketones circulate through the body's systems, we may notice an odor Distinctive sugary urine, and the breathed air smells fruity.
An increase in ketones in the blood and urine is not a cause for concern, as it has nothing to do with diabetes ketones, which are considered one of the danger signs that affect the patient’s life, so you should consult a doctor and do a urine test when you smell such a smell.
Symptoms and types of urinary tract infection
7. Suffering from diabetes
If you frequently go to the bathroom and urinate large amounts of urine that smells distinctive or close to fruity, your sugar level may be high.
In this condition, our bodies are unable to handle sugar, so the amount of sugar increases in the blood and urine, which gives it that distinctive sugary smell, which is one of the classic signs of diabetes.
Another early sign of diabetes is extreme thirst, blurry vision, a sense of tiredness and exhaustion, and sometimes headaches. In this case, consult a doctor directly to check your blood sugar level.
8. The presence of a rare fistula in the bladder
While it is a rare cause of a change in the smell of urine, the fistula - as it is known - is an abnormal link between the bladder and the intestine, and it occurs as a result of a problem in the tissues of the wall of both the digestive and urinary systems, and is usually due to inflammation resulting from diseases such as Crohn's disease, or infection in the gastrointestinal tract.
This results in a change in the smell of urine to something like sulfur, and it may sometimes look like the smell of stool with frequent bladder infections, and if you suffer from this, you should consult a doctor, do some tests, and you may need surgery.
9. The presence of kidney stones
Kidney stones are solid deposits produced from some compounds in the urine, which take the form of crystals and stick together to form stones. Frequent needing to go to the bathroom and having burning urine may be a sign of a kidney stone trying to find its way out of the body, and it can also cause a urine infection.
If your urine smells foul, and you have a fever and pain in one or both sides, you should consult a doctor as soon as possible to have the stone removed.
10. Having a sexually transmitted infection
There are some sexually transmitted infections that cause a change in the smell of urine, Dr. Movsaji explains, and these infections include trichomoniasis, chlamydia infection, and gonorrhea. This change in odor is caused by the bacteria producing ammonia, which the body tries to eliminate through the urinary system.
Dr. Movsaji adds that rancid urine may be a sign of trichomoniasis, especially in the absence of any other signs of infection in men.
?When do you need to consult a doctor
Dr. Ramen says: A slight change in the smell of urine in general is not a reason to visit a doctor, unless the change in the smell of urine has been going on for a long time, or if the change in the smell of urine comes with other symptoms, such as cloudy urine, blood in it, or Accompanying a burning sensation during urination, or with heat or shiver in the body, these signs need to take an appointment to consult a doctor, who may indicate the presence of infection or inflammation of the kidneys.
Sources:
10Reasons Your Pee Stinks