Neon Urine

 For those who take vitamins, have you ever noticed an odd color in your urine? Taking vitamins have tons of positive health benefits, but I have always wondered what was turning my urine a neon color and what implications this had. As we have learned, the kidney plays a large role in maintaining fluid volume homeostasis as well as the ability to adjust the concentration and color of your urine, which can be used as a biomarker for hydration (Kenefick, 2015). What role do vitamins play in the changing of urine color and hydration status?

The classic color of urine is yellow, which is caused by Urochrome (a product of hemoglobin breakdown) (Kenefick, 2015). The euhydration color classification is used to determine hydration status with darker urine being more dehydrated and lighter urine being a sign of hydration (Kenefick, 2015). A study was done to determine whether the presence of vitamin B can alter the ability to do this test and can interfere with one's ability to determine hydration status through urine color. The worry was that the vitamins, such as Vitamin B, could lead to changes in urine and false positives of “dehydration”. Vitamin B2 in particular is known to cause a bright neon color to your urine when taken in excess (Kenefick, 2015). When B2 is taken in excess (as they are usually when taking vitamin supplements), the body only stores a little of it and the rest is excreted through the urine (Kenefick, 2015). This study found that the presence of Vitamin B did not statistically alter the ability to read one's urine for hydration status, but it did add a characteristic fluorescent color (Kenefick, 2015). 

These findings are interesting because the presence of Vitamin B adds a very distinct neon color to your urine, but does not prove any marker for hydration status. Although one’s neon urine will not give you any altered indication of hydration, it can be a positive marker for good health as your body has enough Vitamin B2 (an important vitamin for metabolism and overall health). Maybe it is nature's way of giving you a fun surprise for eating well and supplementing your health effectively.

Citation:

Kenefick, R. W., Heavens, K. R., Dennis, W. E., Caruso, E. M., Guerriere, K. I., Charkoudian, N., & Cheuvront, S. N. (2015). Quantification of chromatographic effects of vitamin B supplementation in urine and implications for hydration assessment. Journal of Applied Physiology, 119(2), 110–115. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00068.2015