Cloudy & Foamy Urine: Is It Proteinuria?

Normal urine is suppose to be clear, with mild yellow or straw colour. When you notice your urine is cloudy (frothy) and/or foamy (bubbles), you may be anxious and want to know whether there is anything wrong with your kidneys.

Urine contains water and all sorts of solubles waste products that are excreted by our kidneys. In common sense, when the waste products in the urine is more concentrated, or there are abnormal particles in the urine, the urine may become cloudy or foamy.

     Normal urine: clear

Here is a list of possible causes of:

Cloudy Urine

• dehydration  (more concentrated urine)
• proteinuria (protein in the urine)
• phosphate crystals (after phosphate-rich meal)
• vitamins B/C (excessive intake excreted through kidneys)
• urinary tract infection (pus from bladder/kidney infection)
• prostatitis (infection or inflammation of prostate)
• kidney stone
• vaginal discharge (contaminate the urine)
• gonorrhoea (pus contaminate the urine)
• retrogade ejaculation (only cloudy after ejaculation)

Foamy Urine

• forceful urination into toilet bowl
• dehydration
• proteinuria
• urinary tract infection

From the list above, dehydration may be the most common cause and proteinuria may be the most important cause. 

When you complain of cloudy urine, at least you need to get a urine sample to check for the presence of protein in your urine. If it is positive for protein, then you may need to have further investigation. However, not all proteinuria especially mild proteinuria is harmful. If your urine do not contain protein, then it is good but you should repeat it at other time and also look for other causes.

    Urine dipstick test: easy for self-check

If the cloudy urine is intermittent and not frequent, then the chance of significant proteinuria is less.

Dehydration, phosphate crystals and vitamin B/C in the urine are totally harmless. Infection usually produce pain when passing urine or pain at the lower abdomen or flank. Urine dipstick and microscopy can help to identify infection. Kidney stones can be diagnosed with ultrasound scan.

Food rich in phosphate include milk, cheese, beans, nuts, corn, chocolate, meat, egg yolk, mushrooms, wheat, oat etc and some processed food with additives such as soft drink, processed meat/hot dogs, biscuits, ketchup etc.

Not every cloudy or foamy urine means kidney problem. If you have this problem, you can check your urine using a dipstick or see your doctor if you are in doubt.