I thought it happened to everyone but not everyone can smell it? (I can.)
Yes, not all people can smell the asparagus urine smell. Only 25% can.
I definitely smell asparagus in my urine.
Good old riboflavin!
I wouldn’t be too worried unless it turned the color of tea or coffee.
I was injected with methylene blue to identify lymph nodes when I had my breast cancer surgery (and a radioactive marker to increase accuracy). I was told that my urine might be greenish for a day or two, but that didn’t happen.
In the pre-antibiotic era, methylene blue was used for UTIs because it does have a slight antiseptic effect, and also has a slight pain-relieving effect, similar to phenazopyridine which is more commonly used nowadays.
There was a urine color chart for the warehouse workers at the company I used to work for. Hereʻs the chart: https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/urine-colour-chart
And hereʻs a more detailed breakdown of the the colors MAY mean: https://www.healthline.com/health/urine-color-chart
An excerpt of the common range.:
"Urine colors
Depending on what you eat, any medications you’re taking, and how much water your drink, urine colors can vary. Many of these colors fall on the spectrum of what “normal” urine can look like, but there are cases where unusual urine colors may be a cause for concern.
Clear
Clear urine indicates that you’re drinking more than the daily recommended amount of water. While being hydrated is a good thing, drinking too much water can rob your body of electrolytes. Urine that occasionally looks clear is no reason to panic, but urine that’s always clear could indicate that you need to cut back on how much water you’re drinking.
Yellowish to amber
The color of “typical” urine falls on the spectrum of light yellow to a deeper amber color. The urochrome pigment that’s naturally in your urine becomes more diluted as you drink water.
Urochrome is produced by your body breaking down hemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen in your red blood cells. In most situations, the color of your urine will depend on how diluted this pigment is.
Having a lot of B-vitamins in your bloodstream can cause urine to appear neon yellow."
For both the men and women, I learned a long time ago not to use colored automatic cleaners in your toilet because itʻs a good thing to check your urine and poop at least every once in a while to see that itʻs in the “normal range”. Especially poop color since it takes longer to pass through the body and the color may indicate internal issues.
https://theconversation.com/health-check-what-your-pee-and-poo-colour-says-about-your-health-59516
My worse was when I had some tests for my eyes (a retinal specialist). They had to inject some dye into my arm vein so it would travel the blood vessels and whatnot in my eyes.
They warned me that my urine would be fluorescent yellow for a day or so. And they weren’t kidding.
If you dine on beets, remember it, so you won’t freak out later in the bathroom.
This is one of the reasons I won’t eat asparagus. It tastes awful going in, and smells bad coming out.
I donʻt notice the smell when I eat asparagus, which is rarely. But the worse for me was after a night of drinking rum & cokes. I could smell the alcohol!
The asparagus issue seems a bit off-topic in this thread, but I’ll put in my $0.0002 anyway.
I remember reading about the asparagus controversy before – Right here on this board, IIRC. There was a discussion, and I don’t recall if there was ever any consensus as to whether asparagus really makes everyone’s pee stink or only some people’s – or whether it was the case that some people can smell it and some can’t.
It sure makes my pee stink, and I can sure smell it. I quit eating asparagus. Anything that strong, going through your bloodstream and through your whole body before your kidneys clean it out, can’t be good for you! Can it? :dubious:
Light yellow urine sounds perfectly normal to me. I mean, pee is supposed to be yellow, ain’t it? Like the old adage, “Watch out where the huskies go; don’t you eat that yellow snow.” 
But, seriously, pee is supposed to be some shade of light yellow. It sounds like it varies by individual, but I only get clear urine if I’ve been chugging liquids all day.
This thread reminds me of one of my favorite moments in medical school. We were in a kidney lecture and the professor said “Do you know why beer goes through you so quickly? It’s because you don’t even have to change the color!” Later on he was quizzing us on what caused clear urine, what caused bright yellow urine, etc. “What causes dark urine?” he asked. A loud voice came from the back of the lecture hall “dark beer”. Maybe you had to have been there but whenever a patient asks about dark urine, my first thought is still “dark beer”,
At the warehouse where the Pee Color Chart was posted, the warehouse workers were encouraged to shoot (no pun intended) for the clear to pale yellow range because of the greater risk of dehydration. The few times I worked as a laborer, we highly encouraged, almost forced to keep drinking water because by the time you felt dehydrated, you were possibly already in the danger zone.
Off topic, but I just remembered and have to share this from Off The Great Wall: https://youtu.be/ZhxH3DkiP_Q?t=937
Mia: Who poos cubes? Tell me. What sort of animal in this world poops cubes?
Mike: I do it about once a month.
“Clear” and “colorless” do not mean the same thing.
I was surprised to find a urine color sign like this in almost every restroom I visited while in Arizona last year. A couple places my wife and I visited required we carry water with us. One of the places only had temperatures in the 70’s and we were there about an hour. But it was pretty dry and we drank most of the 2 bottles water we had with us.
Exactly. If you’re drinking enough water to make it almost colourless, then you’re wasting water.
I assume it was because I clicked this link, back when you posted it, that Amazon today sent me a “We found something you might like” email offering me a two-pack of Urine Color Hydration Signs for $45.97.
I think I’ll pass.
Two thoughts to chime in here…
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Better to err on the side of drinking a bit too much water (or other benign liquids, such as tea) than too little. Kidney stones…happen, I believe, more often to those who are chronically dehydrated. Such as my uncle, who lived in Florida.
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There was a chart with gradations of yellow, posted above the urinal in the college Football training facility where I worked a couple of summers ago. You guessed it: they were trying to ensure their athletes drank enough water. All that sweating during workouts can quickly dehydrate you.