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Urine That Is Black or Brown In Color

Urine that is brown or black in color is understandably very distressing. If your urine is brown or black, the cause could be a food you ate, a side effect of medication or possibly a disease.

If you eat large quantities of the following foods, you may have brown or black urine afterwards:
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Fava Beans (AKA Broad Beans or Field Beans)
Aloe
Rhubarb

A change in urine color resulting from consuming these foods is harmless and temporary. Your urine will return to a normal color in a day or two.

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Black or Brown Urine
Medications that Can Turn Your Urine Brown or Black
Certain medications can turn your urine brown or black. If you have recently started taking a new medication, ask your doctor or pharmacist if brown and black urine is a side effect of that particular medication. The following are some medications known to have this side effect:

Metronidazole (Flagyl)- an anti-biotic, especially used for Clostridium dificile infections. It is also used in anti-rosacea creams or gels.
Furazolidone- an anti-biotic/anti-microbial medication
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Methyldopa (Aldomet)- a treatment for high blood pressure, especially pre-eclampsia in pregnant women. Methyldopa's metabolites turn black when they come into contact with bleach, which is present in many toilets.

Chloraquine- a drug used to prevent malaria

Primaquine- a medication used to treat malaria and sometimes pneumonia

Nitrofurantoin- an anti-biotic often used as a treatment for urinary tract infections (UTIs)
Cascara or Senna- ingredients in some laxatives
Methocarbamol- a muscle relaxer used to treat muscle spasms
Sorbitol- has many uses, including as a laxative and as a sugar substitute.

Contamination with Betadine (povidone-iodine) solution can turn urine brown (this could possibly happen while douching).
Diseases and Conditions that Cause Brown or Black Urine

Sometimes it is a health condition that causes brown or black urine, instead of a medication side-effect. One example is Alkaptonuria, a rare genetic disease. The urine of a person with Alkaptonuria will become darker and darker if it is left standing, exposed to air.

People suffering from melanoma, a life-threatening form of skin cancer, may have urine that darkens if left standing. This is due to the melanin and melanogen excreted in their urine. Urine of this type darkens in a particular pattern- from the top down.

Tyrosinosis, a metabolic disorder, can cause a person's urine to appear brown or black.
Porphyria cutanea tarda, a disease that affects heme in the body, may have brown or black urine as a symptom. However, the main symptoms are blistering or the detachment of nails from the nail bed after exposure to sunlight. People with this type of porphyria also often have liver problems.