What Does A 24 Hour Urine Test Check For Exactly?

By Author: Rob Methvin
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Urinalysis has been used for many decades to give doctors insight on how your body is functioning metabolically. Some are used as a spot check while others, like the 24 hour urinalysis, can be used to give the healthcare provider a greater sense of how the body is working on an average day.

Most patients who are told they need to complete the 24 hour urine test get a funny look on their face. Maybe the thought of peeing in a bottle for 24 hours strikes most people as odd. However, this test is very valid and very useful, I assure you. If you have recently been given or are about to take a 24 hour urine test, then chances are you may have some unresolved questions.

One of the most common questions is: What is my doctor testing for?

Depending on the reason(s) for you doctor wanting to have you complete a 24 hour urine test, he or she is usually checking for a few certain markers. Of course, some are ordered just to check the amount of urine your body produces in a 24 hour period. However, there are usually certain key elements in the urine that will be tested. Some of these include indican, calcium, vitamin ...
... C, calcium oxylate, and NPN urochrome.

By measuring for these different components, the 24 hour urine test can and will show your doctor some pretty important health indicators. Indican is used to monitor how well your body is digesting food or how well the digestive tract is functioning. Calcium oxylate points to how well you are digesting the fats you consume in your diet. NPN urochrome will show if your body is breaking down its own muscle protein from either not getting enough protein in the foods you eat or problems with being able to digest the proteins in your food.

Some of the problems that can be associated with these different markers are constipation, parasites, abnormal flora, or candida/yeast. If your body is low on essential fatty acids (EFA) from not digesting fats properly, that can lead to the development of cardiovascular issues and inflammation among other things. The 24 hour urine test can also help with trying to figure out why a person might be experiencing low energy, nervousness, weight gain or difficulty losing weight, gas, diarrhea, and the list goes on and on.

Whatever your health condition may be, completing a 24 hour urine test will give your doctor and yourself great insight as to what is going on inside you. If you still have concerns over why the test was ordered or what is the reasoning behind the test, then you should contact the doctor recommending it as they should be more than happy to answer your questions.

Dr. Rob Methvin is a chiropractor in Frisco, TX. He helps people improve health with online nutritional analysis and meal planning. The in-home test will provide you with a customized vitamin list to take the guessing out of what your body needs. Check out OnlineNutritionAnalysis.com today!