Can Vitamins Change The Color Of Your Urine?

Normally, urine is clear and ranges from light to dark amber in color, according to “Renal Nursing.” However, for many reasons, the color of your urine can change, turning a wide range of colors, including green, blue and red. This phenomenon can happen because of health conditions, but dietary changes, including vitamins, can also cause the coloration. Urine includes both water and waste, so the amount and type of the latter can change the color of the urine.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is one vitamin that can change the color of urine, turning it orange. As well as in supplement form, vitamin C is obtained through your diet in fruits and vegetables such as citrus fruit, peppers, broccoli, tomatoes, strawberries and potatoes.

B-Complex Vitamins

B-complex vitamins have a tendency to turn urine a bright fluorescent yellow-green color. This change can occur from supplements or too much in your diet. Vitamin B-1, or thiamine, is found in grains, meat, seafood and beans. Vitamin B-2, or riboflavin, is in grains, dairy, green leafy vegetables and liver. B-3, or niacin, is in meat, seafood, nuts, beans and grains. B-5, or pantothenic acid, is found in most foods. B-6, or pyridoxine, is in meat, beans, bananas and potatoes. B-7, or biotin, is in eggs, some fruits and vegetables and peanuts. B-9, or folate, is in fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains and liver. Finally, B-12, or cobalamin is found in meat and dairy.

Additional Nutrients

Multivitamins can sometimes turn your urine a blue-green hue, according to the Stanford School of Medicine. This could be from too much calcium, which can turn your urine blue. Also, although not actually vitamins, the antioxidant anthocyanins found in blackberries and beets can turn your urine red.

Considerations

While vitamins can change the color of your urine, the color change might be from something else instead. Color changes can occur from certain foods in your diet, such as asparagus. Medications and health conditions, such as urinary tract infections, liver disorders or urinary tract disorders, can also change the color. Talk to your doctor if the color change is continuous or if there are other symptoms along with it, such as pain, cloudiness, blood or an odor.