Urine Test

Urine Test
A urine test checks different components of urine, A regular urine test may be done to help find the cause of symptoms. The test can give information about your health and problems you may have.

The kidneys  take out unused material, minerals, fluids, and other substances from the blood to be passed in the urine. Urine has hundreds of different materials. What you eat, drink, how much you exercise, and how well your kidneys work can affect what is in your urine.

More than 100 different tests can be done on urine. A regular urinalysis often includes the following tests.

Color. Many things affect urine color, including fluid balance, diet, medicines, and diseases. How dark or light the color is tells you how much water is in it. Vitamin B supplements can turn urine bright yellow. Some medicines, blackberries, beets, rhubarb, or blood in the urine can turn urine red-brown.
Clarity. Urine is normally clear. Bacteria, blood, sperm, crystals, or mucus can make urine look cloudy.
Odor. Urine does not smell very strong, but has a slightly “nutty” odor. Some diseases cause a change in the odor of urine. For example, an infection with E. coli bacteria can cause a bad odor, while diabetes or starvation can cause a sweet, fruity odor.
Specific gravity. This checks the amount of substances in the urine. It also shows how well the kidneys balance the amount of water in urine. The higher the specific gravity, the more solid material is in the urine. When you drink a lot of fluid, your kidneys make urine with a high amount of water in it which has a low specific gravity. When you do not drink fluids, your kidneys make urine with a small amount of water in it which has a high specific gravity.
pH. The pH is a measure of how acidic or alkaline (basic) the urine is. A urine pH of 4 is strongly acidic, 7 is neutral (neither acidic nor alkaline), and 9 is strongly alkaline. Sometimes the pH of urine is affected by certain treatments. For example, your doctor may instruct you how to keep your urine either acidic or alkaline to prevent some types of kidney stones from forming.
Protein. Protein is normally not found in the urine. Fever, hard exercise, pregnancy, and some diseases, especially kidney disease, may cause protein to be in the urine.
Glucose. Glucose is the type of sugar found in blood. Normally there is very little or no glucose in urine. When the blood sugar level is very high, as in uncontrolled diabetes, the sugar spills over into the urine. Glucose can also be found in urine when the kidneys are damaged or diseased.
Nitrites. Bacteria that cause a urinary tract infection (UTI) make an enzyme that changes urinary nitrates to nitrites. Nitrites in urine show a UTI is present.
Leukocyte esterase (WBC esterase). Leukocyte esterase shows leukocytes (white blood cells [WBCs]) in the urine. WBCs in the urine may mean a UTI is present.
Ketones. When fat is broken down for energy, the body makes substances called ketones (or ketone bodies). These are passed in the urine. Large amounts of ketones in the urine may mean a very serious condition, diabetic ketoacidosis, is present. A diet low in sugars and starches (carbohydrates), starvation, or severe vomiting may also cause ketones to be in the urine.
Microscopic analysis. In this test, urine is spun in a special machine (centrifuge) so the solid materials (sediment) settle at the bottom. The sediment is spread on a slide and looked at under a microscope. Things that may be seen on the slide include:
Red or white blood cells. Blood cells are not found in urine normally. Inflammation, disease, or injury to the kidneys, ureters, bladder, or urethra can cause blood in urine. Strenuous exercise, such as running a marathon, can also cause blood in the urine. White blood cells may be a sign of infection or kidney disease.
Casts. Some types of kidney disease can cause plugs of material (called casts) to form in tiny tubes in the kidneys. The casts then get flushed out in the urine. Casts can be made of red or white blood cells, waxy or fatty substances, or protein. The type of cast in the urine can help show what type of kidney disease may be present.
Crystals. Healthy people often have only a few crystals in their urine. A large number of crystals, or certain types of crystals, may mean kidney stones are present or there is a problem with how the body is using food (metabolism).
Bacteria, yeast cells, or parasites. There are no bacteria, yeast cells, or parasites in urine normally. If these are present, it can mean you have an infection.
Squamous cells. The presence of squamous cells may mean that the sample is not as pure as it needs to be. These cells do not mean there is a medical problem, but your doctor may ask that you give another urine sample.

On looking through my logs as to how people are finding our blog, it seems lots of people want to know how to do a pH test. It only dawned on me that I have only really covered this in one place out of the entire blog and main energiseforlife.com site!

So, to give you a good, definitive guide to testing the pH of your saliva and urine:

Testing your pH with Saliva or Urine

It is good practice to either test 1 hour before or 2 hours after eating. If testing your saliva, it is a good idea to try to fill your mouth with saliva and then swallow. This helps remove any acidic bacteria that might be lurking. Do not try to wash your mouth out with anything else as this will simply record the alkalinity of the water/liquid you have just used.

For testing urine, let some urine flow before testing as this will give more of an average reading.

It is also a good idea to test 2-3 times in a day in order to get an average, as first thing in the morning the body has retained fluids over a long period of time and it will engage in different processes to remove acid wastes from the body throughout the day (depending on activity and diet).

Why the Differences and Fluctuations?

The reason that there is such a difference between your urine and saliva readings is that a) your mouth is more likely to contain acidic bacteria throughout the day (if you brush your teeth it will show a very high alkaline reading due to the toothpaste so there is not much of a way around this) and b) because your urine is more of a reflection of the processes the body is undertaking to remove acid from the body.

Both of these are therefore subject to fluctuations. I would recommend taking the average of several readings to gain a bigger picture of your progress rather than concentrating on each reading in isolation.

A reading of anywhere between 6.75-7.0+ is excellent for saliva as the saliva tends to be slightly more acidic. For the urine, a slightly higher pH level of 7.5 upwards is great, but remember that due to the kidneys processing of toxins throughout the day, the urine can give a more erratic reading.

To put all of this into perspective, someone who eats a typical Western diet would be more likely to have a saliva pH average of about 5.5-6.0. This may not seem too much lower, however it is important to remember that the pH scale is logarithmic – meaning each step is ten times the previous i.e. 4.5 is 10 times more acidic than 5.5 which is 100 times more acidic than 6.5 and so on