Why Your Pee is Neon Yellow and What to Do About It

So hopefully by now, you understand the importance of supplementing. If you’ve ever had someone tell you that a healthy diet doesn’t require supplementing, I am going to break a hard truth to you-they’re WRONG.

This would have been true about 50 (maybe even more) years ago. When our food was less processed, there were less pesticides, less genetically modified foods, and more nutrients in our soil. Among tons of other factors.

But the fact of the matter is, today, our food is very different than 50 years ago. Eating an apple today, you simply are not getting the same amount of vitamins and nutrients than you would have 50 years ago. Maybe even 100 years ago.

So, what can I do?

 

I always recommend good supplementation for everyone. Even the healthiest diets should be supplementing with at LEAST a good multivitamin. You may be hitting the recommended intake for several nutrients and not others, so it’s good to have your bases covered!

Now that we’ve settled that, let’s move on to the next myth you hear from those same well meaning people who tell you that a healthy diet doesn’t need supplementation. Often times, they’ll take it a step further and tell you that you just pee out your vitamins anyway. They’ll provide proof by saying something like “you know how your pee turns neon yellow when you take vitamins? You’re just peeing them out. Save your money”. Other things I’ve heard people say are that cheap vitamins make your pee yellow and it means your body isn’t absorbing them.

Again, more misinformation. I do believe that in the world of supplements, you get what you pay for. I personally recommend Doterra Life Long Vitality. This pack is a great one stop shop for all the different supplements you may be taking, including a multivitamin, but it’s important that you do your own research, and supplement based on your own individual needs. It’s important to understand the purity, the ingredients, and look for fillers. But neon yellow pee doesn’t mean it’s a bad quality.

Often times, people will notice it as soon as they start on vitamins, or, maybe it comes on suddenly. Bright yellow pee is actually caused by something called riboflavin. Or, Vitamin B2. If you are getting this vitamin in your multi, and your body is getting enough through diet, it will excrete the extra. Because of the way it is metabolized, and how it interacts with light, it causes that fun color in your toilet! That’s it!

So, what can I do about it?

 

Well first, you should know that it’s not harming you, nor is it a sign that you’re not absorbing your vitamins! You could reduce your dose of the vitamin, change it completely and take one without vitamin B2, or take a look at your diet and try to balance it out in there.

Riboflavin is found in all sorts of foods including eggs, dairy, beef liver, spinach, almonds, mushrooms and kidney beans. The list is large! As you can see, it’s quite a variety! So it could really be anywhere in your diet! Because it’s water soluble, increasing your water intake will also dilute the color. Also, B vitamins can be depleted by things like stress and alcohol, or even poor digestion. So if any of these have improved in your life, you may notice a color change as well!

So hopefully this eases your anxiety and now you can get on with life, knowing you are at least getting enough Vitamin B!