Chemical analysis of our urine shows us that it contains a range of substances, such as salts and organic compounds that include proteins, hormones, and a variety of metabolites. The first thing most people are aware of when it comes to urine analysis is the colour, most people have seen a pee chart. Ideally it is suggested that ranging from colorless to amber but is usually a pale yellow is healthy, far from the black/brown I once saw in a Virgin Active Personal Trainer. He wasn't sure if he had a problem so I suggested he saw a doctor and maybe rethought his protein shake obsession. Unless your living on Sunny Delight like another of my former clients, the color comes from the urobilin caused by the breakdown of heme from hemoglobin in your old blood cells. Urine that is colourless is often thought of as perfectly healthy but it can be a sign of over-hydration, by which I mean that it is removing to many essential salts from the body.
The pH of urine is considered by some be best at 7 which is neutral, but it can vary between 4.6 and 8. When I personally test someone I wouldn't be happy with a reading of 7 but I won't complicate this post with the many variations that may make this an unhealthy reading for you. Citrus fruits, vegetables and dairy tend increase urine pH (alkaline) as does potassium citrate, and sodium bicarbonate.
Meat tends to decrease urine pH (acidic), which I mentioned in my previous post about how my pH had gone acid, this led to hardening of my connective tissue, hence the ruptured tendon after years as a fast oxidizer on a high protein diet.
Inspection of urine is an indicator of many issues, the current epidemic of diabetes mellitus got its name because the urine is plentiful and sweet. Diabetes comes from Greek, and it means a siphon. Aretus the Cappadocian, a Greek physician during the second century A.D., named the condition diabainein. He described patients who were passing too much water (polyuria) - like a siphon. The word became "diabetes" from the English adoption of the Medieval Latin diabetes. In 1675 Thomas Willis added mellitus to the term, although it is commonly referred to simply as diabetes. Mel in Latin means honey; the urine and blood of people with diabetes has excess glucose, and glucose is sweet like honey. Diabetes mellitus could literally mean "siphoning off sweet water", mmmmm bottle that one up powerade. In ancient China people observed that ants would be attracted to some people's urine, because it was sweet. They called it "Sweet Urine Disease."
Next time you "spend a penny" at least take a look down, if your a client of mine already, at least you now have a little insight into what I look for in your urine and that I'm not just taking the...