Water Sports Training Manual
by Hartley
WHAT'S IN IT?
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4. WHAT'S IN IT?
Urine is mostly water. Besides that, it contains the following:
Soluble minerals in excess of your body's needs, mostly salt, but with some magnesium,
calcium, potassium, and phosphate.
Nitrogenous material, primarily urea. Also present is a more complex compound called
creatinine, which I believe is responsible for the color and odor. These substances are
nontoxic. There is also a small amount of uric acid and an even smaller amount of
ammonia. Neither of these is present in enough concentration to do any harm.
Water-soluble stuff your body needs but is unable to retain. This includes water-soluble
vitamins like C and B-complex. If you take large amounts of vitamin supplements, you
increase the concentration of these in your urine.
Food components that, though nontoxic, are of no use. These include various natural and
artificial flavoring and coloring agents. At least some of the aspartame (Nutrisweet) you
consume is passed (the resulting sweetness can be a turn-on for some folks). You may also
have noticed that if you eat beets, the red coloring is passed. If you consume a large
amount of grapefruit, your urine will smell like grapefruit. There is a nontoxic artificial dye
called methylene blue that is passed unchanged, for those who like to pee in color. There
are plenty more examples.
Degradation products of food compounds. These are also nontoxic. The best known
example is what happens when you eat asparagus. Your liver converts sulphur compounds
in the asparagus to methylthiol, (a water-soluble gas) which is passed. Methylthiol is not
toxic in the quantities present in urine (that quantity being very small), but it is one of the
smelliest compounds known. The human nose can detect it in concentrations of much less
than one part per million in air.
Toxins that you consumed, or their degradation products. The best example of one of these
is alcohol. Alcohol is so water-soluble that your body is powerless to prevent it (or its
degradation product, a compound called acetaldehyde) from diffusing through all your
tissues. It will be present in your urine in the same concentration it is in your blood.
Caffeine and some recreational drugs are other things that may be present in your urine if
you consume them first.
Small quantities of blood protein.
Sluffed off cells and mucous from your bladder and urethra linings.
In males, bits of semen, especially after sexual activity.
Trace quantities of hormones, including sex hormones.
Urine should not contain sugar (glucose) in any but minute amounts. If someone's urine is
discernibly sweet, barring his or her having consumed an artificial sweetener, that person
ought to see a doctor. Diabetes is no joke (and the doctor is the one person that you CAN
tell that you or your lover discovered sugar in the urine by taste. Doctors have heard it all,
and they don't tell).
Urine should not contain blood or puss. Again, if it does, see a doctor.