It is a common occurrence to use public toilets and find oneself amidst extremely foul smells that can sometimes border on unbearable.
While urinating at your own house or office, you may find a similar smell around you and wonder if it’s the bathroom that needs some maintenance.
However, if you ever come to find that it’s you, then you need to dig deeper. Even though urine can be smelly for a number of reasons that are inconsequential, there are other reasons too.
At times, smelly urine can be a result of infections and other underlying health conditions. Here are some of the possible reasons why your urine might smell.
1. UTI
UTIs or Urinary Tract Infections are common and occur because of unsolicited bacteria that end up in your bladder and multiply. The smell is a direct result of the presence of these bacteria. However, UTIs are characterized by multiple other symptoms like burning sensation while peeing and frequent urination.
2. Not drinking enough water
3. Drinking too much coffee
Even though this doesn’t hold true for everybody, but coffee can make the urine smell because the composition of coffee is such that when it is metabolized, its by-products can make the urine smell. In addition to this, coffee can also cause dehydration, which in itself is another reason for bad smelling urine.
4. Diabetes
People who have diabetes but are unaware of it can experience bad smelling urine because their bodies aren’t able to digest sugar the way other people’s bodies do, due to which their urine might smell sweet or fruity. Increased frequency of peeing in diabetic people is common and is another signifier of diabete
5. STI
Sexually Transmitted Infections can be extremely prominent especially because of what they do to the urine and the bladder. At times these infections can cause an inflammation of the urethra which can change the smell of the urine. In addition to an STI, a slight irritation in the vagina can also lead to smelly urine.
6. Specific foods
All bodies are different and because of their different operating mechanisms, they digest different foods differently. Asparagus, brussels sprouts, onion, garlic, salmon, alcohol and curry are some food groups that are difficult to completely digest by some people’s bodies and leave out metabolites that are accompanied by odors.
7. Yeast infection
Yeasts are naturally present in several parts of the body including the vagina. When they proliferate too much, it can lead to complications in the body, and yeasts grow in the vagina. A smelly urine can very well indicate a yeast infection because of the proximity between the urethra and the vagina. The infections is accompanied by other symptoms that include redness, swelling and a thick white discharge.
