Why does my pee smells like coffee?Urine smells like coffee but you don’t drink coffee?If these questions bother you then you are the right place.Find out why urine smells like coffee grounds and how to get rid of it.
Urine is a direct reflection of a person’s health. It is an end product of kidney’s filtration process. Your kidney absorbs all the excess water, salts and sugars from the blood.
After that, all the toxins then left are passed out along with the urine.
Whenever you go to a doctor because of illness, they tell you to get your urine tested. The reason being straightforward.
A urine test identifies the toxin products present in the urine which your body has rejected.
Usually, a healthy person passes a urine which is pale yellow and odorless. But sometimes, your urine might smell like coffee.
Any disorder or a change in eating habits could be a reason behind such change. All these ideas are discussed in detail further in this article.
Table of Contents
Why Does Pee Smells Like Coffee?
i. Excess Intake Of Coffee
Caffeine is a worldwide stimulating substance. It is found in coffee, tea, soft drinks, chocolates and some medicines. When a person drinks too much coffee, excess caffeine is not metabolized by the body.
Thus, your kidney starts releasing caffeine in large amounts. This increases the presence of caffeine in your urine resulting in a coffee like smell.
Other fluids such as juices do not give a smell to the urine. It is because they are broken down into their constituent elements when passed along with urine.
ii. Dehydration
When a person does not drink enough water in a day, his/her body becomes dehydrated. This is due to the higher concentration of caffeine and lower concentration of water in your urine.
Also, the color of your urine becomes dark yellow. In most cases, this is a mild condition and does not require any medical treatment.
iii. Due To Intake Of Anxiety Disorder Medicines
Some people take medicines like Zanax which deal with anxiety disorders. These medicines can result in excessive sweating from your body. It can dehydrate you and make your urine less concentrated with water.
Eventually, your pee starts smelling like coffee. To keep yourself hydrated, You need to drink at least eight glasses of water in a day
iv. Eating Puffed Wheat
Some people also say that when they eat excessive puffed wheat ( honey smacks ), their pee smells like coffee. This condition is temporary and might differ from individual to individual.
Why Does Your Pee Smells Like Cofee Even When You Don’t Drink Cofee?
This condition is pretty normal. I have heard people saying that their pee smells like coffee.
But, this happened when they had coffee just once in a day. They were not addicted to coffee at all, but still, their pee smelled like coffee.
The reason being here is that the odor compounds of coffee are not being absorbed correctly by your body. It also happens when you are not drinking the appropriate amount of water.
When there is not enough water in your body to break down caffeine compounds properly, these unbroken compounds pass into your urine. This, as a result, gives coffee like smell to your urine.
What Are the Effects Of Caffeine On Your Urine?
We all know basic facts about caffeine. It causes changes in metabolism and increases focus and energy.
Other then all this, it also brings some alterations in urine which are :
a. Psychological Effects
Caffeine’s addictive effect causes agitation. It is like when you feel calm only by having a drug.
Every coffee drinker who consumes a lot of caffeine throughout the day often wakes up feeling lethargic, irritable and agitated. It is because the caffeine already worked on your system overnight.
At this moment, you will feel calmer only when you consume caffeine. Your body gets physically dependent on this chemical.
b. Addictive Effects
Caffeine addiction is serious enough to cause withdrawal symptoms. It affects you physically and agitates you psychologically.
Many caffeine users experience flu-like symptoms when they stop using the drug. You also get, sleepy and depressed during caffeine withdrawal.
You feel mentally calm only when you start consuming caffeine again.
c. Diuretic Effects
Caffeine has a diuretic property. It increases urine output from your body. The primary reason behind this property of caffeine is that it increases glomerular blood pressure/blood pressure within capillaries in kidneys.
This results in an increase in blood filtration causing increased urination.
d. Change In Water Concentration
Caffeine prevents sodium ion desorption. It increases sodium ion blood serum levels which increases urination but decreases water filtration. Thus, causing a decrease in water concentration in urine.
e. Change In Color & Scent
Since caffeine inhibits water filtration, this causes the urine to be more concentrated with urea, ammonia and other waste.
As a result, caffeine causes urine to become darker in color and pungent in smell. It is almost impossible to stay hydrated when intake of caffeine is so high.
How To Get Rid Of Pee Smells Like Coffee?
The following steps can help you prevent pee smells like coffee.
1. Make Sure You Are Always Hydrated
When your body does not have sufficient water, intake of any caffeine-containing substance will result in coffee like the smell of your urine. Therefore, drink more water to have a higher concentration of water in your urine.
2. Keep The Check On Your Caffeine Intake
You should try to reduce the amount of coffee, soda or tea on your whole day. Limit yourself to the certain quantity. Remember, the excess of anything can be dangerous. Caffeine can be addictive. Your body will demand more and more every time you have it.
3. Try To Substitute Coffee With Other Beverages
For heavy coffee drinkers, substituting coffee with tea might help in tapering off caffeine.
Not only coffee but consider all the items that contain caffeine like pain medications, chocolate, soft drinks and energy drinks.
4. Observe The Color Of Your Urine Regularly
This may be an early indication of some other serious problem like Urine Tract Infection or Diabetes. Carelessness in such cases could lead to serious complications sometimes.
What Are Some Caffeine Withdrawal Symptoms?
The tolerance level for caffeine develops very quickly. While you are trying to cut off some caffeine from your life, you might find some symptoms like :
- Fatigue
- A headache
- Drowsiness
- Depression
- Irritation
- Difficulty in concentrating
- Insomnia
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Muscle pain or stiffness
You can beat caffeine addiction and return to your calm state. You just have to bear these withdrawal symptoms. You suffer the intense effects within 24 to 48 hours of the time you cut off caffeine. These effects will gradually decrease in 9 days and will eventually stop.
In case the symptoms are severe, I will suggest you the “25 percent solution”. In this solution, Withdrawal symptoms can be avoided by reducing caffeine consumption by 25 % each week until you are caffeine free.
When To Worry?
If your pee smells like coffee, you can get rid of it by the above-mentioned remedies. Although, you should see a doctor if :
i. Your urine has blood or is of pink color.
ii. The color changes in your urine are not a result of the change in foods or nutritional supplements.
iii. Changes in color are accompanied by increases in urination urges, frequency, and a burning sensation.
iv. You observe additional symptoms such as abdominal / back pain, fatigue, increase in appetite or thirst, sudden weight loss, fever, sweats or chills.
v. Your urine decreases significantly. Its decrease is accompanied by a rapid pulse, dizziness or lightheadedness.
vi. You suffer burning or pain after urinating.
vii. Blood, fever, chills accompany the sensation of burning while urinating.
viii. You pass dark brown urine. It is accompanied by pale stools and yellow eyes/skin.
ix. If you recently discovered coffee like the smell of your urine, you can easily control it. Just follow the above remedies.
Although, if you experience conditions other than just coffee like the smell, you should get immediate medical attention. As it is said, Prevention is always better than cure.
