Urine Smells Like Onion

Urine Smells Like Onion
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Brunzel NA. Physical examination of urine. In: Fundamentals of Urine and Body Fluid Analysis. 4th ed. Elsevier; 2018.
McPherson RA, et al., eds. Henry's Clinical Diagnosis and Management by Laboratory Methods. 23rd ed. St. Louis, Mo.: Elsevier; 2017. https://www.clinicalkey.com. Accessed Aug. 10, 2016.
Shirasu M, et al. The scent of disease: Volatile organic compounds of the human body related to disease and disorder. The Journal of Biochemistry. 2011;150:257.
Chernecky CC, et al., eds. Urinalysis. In: Laboratory Tests and Diagnostic Procedures. 6th ed. St. Louis, Mo.: Saunders Elsevier; 2013. https://www.clinicalkey.com. Accessed Aug. 11, 2016.
Wilkinson JM (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Aug. 13, 2016.

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Urine consists mainly of water. It's the amount and concentration of various waste products excreted by the kidneys that causes urine odor.
Urine that contains a lot of water and few waste products has little to no odor. If urine becomes highly concentrated — a high level of waste products with little water — your urine may have a strong ammonia odor.
Some foods and medications, such as asparagus or certain vitamins, can cause a noticeable urine odor, even in low concentrations. Sometimes, unusual urine odor indicates a medical condition or disease, such as:
Causes shown here are commonly associated with this symptom. Work with your doctor or other health care professional for an accurate diagnosis.
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Have you ever sat down on the toilet to relieve yourself and thought, Yuck, w hat's that smell? Maybe you assumed the stench was the faint yet unpleasant odor that lingers in office bathrooms...but then you realized it wasn't that at all. It was actually your own urine.

Yep, urine can be smelly—for a number of reasons. Many of them are harmless, but in some cases, smelly urine can be a sign that something more serious is going on. We asked a doctor to explain what causes smelly urine and what you can do about it. Hint: The five cups of coffee you had this morning aren't doing your pee any favors.

Not drinking enough H2O is the top cause of smelly urine, Sonia Dutta, MD, urogynecologist at NorthShore University HealthSystem in Illinois, tells Health . Urine is a combination of water and waste products, Dr. Dutta explains. "So when you're dehydrated, your urine has less water in relation to waste products, which can make you have smelly urine," she says.

You can check the color of your urine to confirm whether you're dehydrated. If it's amber- or honey-colored, or even a dark orange, you probably need to up your water intake. But if it's a pale straw or transparent yellow color, you're well hydrated, which means your urine could be smelly for another reason.

Asparagus is notorious for making urine smelly. But if this veggie doesn't give your pee a funky odor, that's normal, too.Dr. Dutta says everyone digests food differently, and some can get away with eating asparagus without any change in their urine. "It's most likely because their body doesn't have the enzyme they need to break it down completely," she explains. But others do have the enzyme, and when those people digest asparagus, "their bodies make something called a sulfur metabolite, which can make the urine have a sulfur or ammonia smell."

Other foods, like Brussels sprouts, onions, garlic, curry, salmon, and alcohol, can have a similar effect. Dr. Dutta suggests drinking plenty of water when eating foods that you know make your pee; it'll dilute your urine so the stench isn't so noticeable.

We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your coffee habit could be making your pee stink. Coffee metabolites, or the byproducts that come from coffee when it's broken down in your body, can make urine smell, Dr. Dutta says. (Like we said before, this isn't the case for everyone. So if you've never noticed an odor after your morning cup of joe, you're probably in the clear.)

Coffee is also a diuretic, meaning it makes you have to pee a lot , flushing your body of extra fluid and sodium. Diuretics can cause dehydration, so on top of the smell from those coffee metabolites, your pee may also have a stench because it's more concentrated than usual. Pro tip: Drink a tall glass of agua before your morning brew to fend off dehydration.

A urinary tract infection (UTI) occurs when bacteria get into your urinary system through the urethra and then begin to multiply in the bladder. Bacteria, of course, can make your pee smell bad. But Dr. Dutta says if you have a UTI, you'll probably have more symptoms than just smelly urine. The same bacteria can also make you have to go more frequently, give you a burning sensation when peeing, and even turn your urine cloudy or even bloody.

Yeast are microorganisms that naturally live in various parts of the body, including the vagina. B ut when yeast grow out of control, they can trigger an infection. Yeast infections occur in the vagina, but because the urethra is so close to the vaginal opening, your urine may pick up a scent from the neighboring infection, Dr. Dutta says. Like a UTI, a yeast infection usually comes with other symptoms, like itching, redness, swelling of the vagina and vulva, and thick white discharge.

"Some STIs may cause urethritis, or inflammation of the urethra," Dr. Dutta says. "Anything that causes inflammation or irritation can potentially be associated with bacteria or pus or bleeding, which can change the smell of the urine." Chlamydia, trichomoniasis, and gonorrhea are the STIs that most commonly cause urethritis. But even if an STI doesn't cause urethritis, urine could still pick up a smell from irritation in the vagina, she adds.

Think you might have an STI? See your doctor ASAP. They'll help you determine the best option for treatment.

Anyone who's had a kidney stone knows how painful they can be. Kidney stones develop when salt and other minerals found in urine stick together and form into hard stone-like deposits. They can be as small as sand-like grains or as large as full-on chunks of gravel. "Kidney stones can collect bacteria and lead to infection or sometimes bleeding," Dr. Dutta says. "That can then change what the urine smells like."

Other symptoms of kidney stones include back, side, or groin pain; nausea or vomiting; frequent urination; blood in urine; pain with urination; and fever. "Kidney stones are never, ever going to just be smelly urine," she adds. "There will be other symptoms, as well." Stones typically pass in the urine without any need for treatment. But seek medical attention if you have severe pain, vomiting, bleeding, or signs of infection.

People who have undiagnosed diabetes are "spilling out sugar into their urine," Dr. Dutta says. That's because they can't process sugar the way most people can, meaning they have excess glucose in the blood, which the body tries to get rid of through the urine. "When you have that extra sugar in your urine, it's going to give it a sweet, fruity smell," she explains. People with uncontrolled diabetes will likely also have increased pee urgency or frequency, as the sugar irritates the bladder. See your doctor ASAP if you think you might have diabetes.

Dr. Dutta says many people notice their urine smells different after taking vitamins—same way some people detect a different urine odor after eating certain foods. But there's nothing to worry about if you conclude a vitamin is making your pee rank. "Vitamins tend to be a little bit in excess of what your body truly needs, so you'll often end up peeing some of that out," she says.

By
Jessica Migala
January 23, 2021

Urine smells are normally different from person to person, but a few specific smells can tip you off that something's going on with your health.

Image Credit:
Mihailgrey/iStock/GettyImages

1. If Your Urine Smells Like Ammonia...

3. If You Have Sweet-Smelling Urine...

5. If Your Urine Smells Really Bad...

6. If Your Pee Smells Like Sulfur...

7. If Your Urine Smells Like Coffee...

Sometimes it smells like nothing. Other times, like when you wake up in the morning, your pee has that, well, "strong pee smell." Or it might smell fruity, sour or even fishy. So, what's going on?
"Urine will have a characteristic odor that may be different in each person," Piyush Agarwal, MD , professor of surgery and urology and director of the Bladder Cancer Program at The University of Chicago Medicine, tells LIVESTRONG.com.
But when there's something funky going on — your urine does not smell "normal" to you — you probably have questions. Before you rely on your pee smell to self-diagnose, though, keep in mind that smells can be up for interpretation. What you'd describe as pee that smells sweet, another person might say smells fruity.
What's more, while odor is important, it's often not as telling as other signs, including urine color.
So pay attention to the stink and report any concerns to your doctor, but don't assume the worst if the aroma you're producing is a little off.
Now, let's get on with it. If your urine smells like the following, here's what may be going on:
Urine is mostly made up of water, with the addition of waste products like urea. If you have foul-smelling or pungent urine that has a strong ammonia scent, then it's likely you're dehydrated , leading to more concentrated urine.
Where doctors worry is when you have additional symptoms. For instance, an ammonia smell to your urine along with burning, pain with urination and fever may point to a urinary tract infection (UTI), Dr. Agarwal says.
Fix it: Drinking more water will dilute your urine, which will tame the smell. You'll know you're properly hydrated if your pee is somewhere between clear and a light yellow color, per the Cleveland Clinic .
If you have additional symptoms, make an appointment with your doctor.
Trichomoniasis is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) that can affect people of any sex. People assigned male at birth often have no symptoms, but those assigned female can have a fishy-smelling vaginal discharge. While discharge is distinctly different than urine, that may be the scent you're smelling when in the bathroom.
Along with the odor, discharge may be greenish-yellow, and you may experience vaginal irritation, notes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
Fix it: This infection is cured with a single dose of antibiotics.
It might be an infection, or it could be diabetes.
Some patients who have UTIs actually describe the smell of their urine as sweet, Dr. Agarwal says.
More commonly, this might be a sign of diabetes. If you have uncontrolled diabetes, sugar is being eliminated in your urine, which can add a sweet smell.
"This would be accompanied by going to the bathroom more frequently and an increased urge to go," Dr. Agarwal says.
It could be dehydration, or maybe it's the supplement you're taking.
As we noted before, your pee is more concentrated when you're dehydrated, so it has that strong pee smell.
Another cause behind that smell, though, can be B-6 vitamins, according to the Cleveland Clinic . The vitamin is water-soluble, meaning it is eliminated in the urine. Check your supplements and multivitamin: How much B6 do they contain?
Fix it: Drink more water if you're dehydrated. If it's your supplement, consider switching to a vitamin with lower levels of B-6.
Sometimes the GI tract can form an abnormal connection to the urinary tract, called a fistula. "That causes some stool contents to be eliminated in the urine," Dr. Agarwal says.
Your urine may take on a really nasty smell because of these fecal particles, may have a brownish color and you may hear air passing through your urethra as you're peeing. However, foul-smelling urine might be the first sign, he says.
Fix it: This warrants a call to your doctor, who will look for the underlying cause of the fistula (such as colon cancer or an inflammatory disorder) and recommend surgery, according to the Urology Care Foundation .
Did you just eat asparagus, perhaps?
"Foods will change the smell of urine," Dr. Agarwal says. Asparagus is by far the most famous for doing this, and that's because sulfur byproducts of the veggie are being eliminated in the urine.
Fun fact: Lots of people can't smell "asparagus pee" because of certain genetic variants that make them unable to detect this odor. In one study published in The BMJ in 2016, about 60 percent of people claimed they didn't have smelly pee after eating asparagus. (They really did, but their noses were none the wiser.)
Other foods that are known to change your urine odor include garlic, salmon, Brussels sprouts and curries, Dr. Agarwal says.
Fix it: Not much you can do here, really — the smell will go away on its own.
We'll keep this short and sweet: "Some people notice that they have a coffee smell to their urine after drinking coffee," Dr. Agarwal says.
Fix it: This is harmless — keep on caffeinating.
If you're confident that the smell is not related to something you ate or a change in diet, call your doctor, who may want to evaluate you for an underlying cause, like a UTI or STD.
If you have additional symptoms, like burning, increased peeing frequency or a cloudy appearance to your urine, you should also be evaluated.

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up an appetite with the smell. There is no source and no-one else can smell it and it's everywhere I
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I was diagnosed borderline hypo 5 years ago with a TSH of 5.1 I am not on any medication due to levothyroxine allergies, which I have written about on here before. But the thing that's really worrying me now is that for about the last 6 months I smell of what I can only describe as boiled onions. Sorry to be so personal but I notice it more when I pull my knickers down to go to the loo, so I am assuming that it's something to do with my urine. The smell has got progressively worse and I'm having to have a shower twice a day and I am starting to worry that other people can smell it. Apart from my hypothyroidism and fibromyalgia I haven't got any form of UTI or problems of that nature. Has anybody gor any idea what can be causing this could it be because my thyroid is getting worse? My TSH was 7.2 a few months ago, I had it tested last week and it is 9.78 I'm going to see my endo next week but would like to be armed with some info before I mention it to her so that she can't just fob me off. Thanks everyone! Sharon
Strange smelling urine is definitely a symptom of thyroid hormone deficiency, and your rising TSH backs this up. You need to get onto some form of thyroid medication asap I would think. If levothyroxine is not an option, then a trial of T3 seems an obvious next step. Hopefully the endo will work with you on this now.
You make it sound so simple - and in our World it is but in my endos World. I have suggested to her that I try T3 and she says because your FREE T3 & FREE T4 markers are normal if I give you T3 it could make your heart fail and I am not prepared to risk it. This is why
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