Evidence-Based Supplement & Herb Guides

Urine Chloride Test: High, Low, Acid-Base Balance, and Volume Status

Understand urine chloride test results, including low and high values, metabolic alkalosis, vomiting, diuretics, volume status, and 24-hour testing.

A urine chloride test measures how much chloride, a major negatively charged electrolyte, is being excreted in urine. The result is most useful when...

Urine Citrate Test: Kidney Stone Risk, Low Citrate, and Urine Chemistry

Learn what a urine citrate test shows, why low citrate raises kidney stone risk, common causes of hypocitraturia, and how diet and potassium citrate affect results.

A urine citrate test measures citrate excreted by the kidneys, usually as part of a 24-hour urine evaluation for kidney stones. Citrate is protective...

Urine Creatinine Test: Kidney Function, Collection Check, Ratio Tests, and Meaning

Learn how urine creatinine is used for collection checks, uACR and UPCR ratios, creatinine clearance, and why spot or 24-hour results can be high or low.

A urine creatinine test measures creatinine, a waste product generated from normal muscle metabolism, in a urine sample. It can be reported as a...

Urine Electrolyte Panel: Sodium, Potassium, Chloride, Osmolality, and Kidney Handling

Understand urine sodium, potassium, chloride, and osmolality patterns, kidney electrolyte handling, FENa, volume status, hyponatremia, and common interpretation pitfalls.

A urine electrolyte panel measures selected substances in urine—most often sodium, potassium, and chloride, with urine osmolality frequently added—to show how the kidneys are...

Urine Magnesium Test: High, Low, Kidney Loss, Mineral Balance, and Meaning

Learn how urine magnesium testing identifies kidney magnesium loss, how 24-hour magnesium and FEMg are interpreted, and what high or low results can mean.

A urine magnesium test measures how much magnesium the kidneys are excreting. It is most useful when blood magnesium is low and the clinician...

Urine Osmolal Gap Test: Ammonium Excretion, Metabolic Acidosis, and Kidney Acid Handling

Learn how the urine osmolal gap estimates ammonium excretion, how it helps evaluate normal-anion-gap metabolic acidosis, and when the calculation can mislead.

The urine osmolal gap is a calculated estimate of unmeasured particles in urine. In clinical nephrology, its main use is to roughly estimate urinary...

Urine Osmolality Test: High, Low, Hydration, Kidney Concentration, and Meaning

Understand urine osmolality results, including high and low values, hydration, hyponatremia, polyuria, kidney concentration, and diabetes insipidus evaluation.

A urine osmolality test measures how concentrated or dilute urine is by counting the number of dissolved particles per kilogram of water. The kidneys...

Urine Oxalate Test: Kidney Stone Risk, High Oxalate, and Calcium Oxalate Stones

Learn how a urine oxalate test evaluates calcium oxalate stone risk, what high oxalate can mean, and how diet, malabsorption, vitamin C, and primary hyperoxaluria affect results.

A urine oxalate test measures how much oxalate is excreted in urine, usually over 24 hours. Oxalate is a small organic compound that comes...

Urine pH Test: Acid-Base Balance, Kidney Stones, UTI, and Meaning

Learn how to interpret urine pH, including acidic and alkaline results, kidney stone patterns, UTI clues, renal tubular acidosis, normal ranges, and when follow-up testing matters.

A urine pH test shows how acidic or alkaline urine is. It is a simple measurement, but its meaning depends heavily on context because...

Urine Phosphorus Test: High, Low, Kidney Function, Bone Mineral Balance, and Meaning

Understand what a urine phosphorus test measures, why levels may be high or low, how kidney phosphate wasting is assessed, and how results relate to bone-mineral balance and kidney stones.

A urine phosphorus test measures how much phosphorus, mainly in the form of phosphate, your kidneys remove into urine. The result can help show...

Urine Potassium Test: High, Low, Kidney Potassium Loss, and Balance Meaning

Learn how a urine potassium test identifies kidney potassium loss, what high or low urine potassium can mean, common renal and nonrenal causes, and how results are interpreted with blood tests.

A urine potassium test measures how much potassium your kidneys are excreting. It is most useful when a blood potassium level is abnormal and...

Urine Sodium Test: High, Low, Kidney Function, Hydration, and Volume Status

Understand what a urine sodium test shows, why levels may be high or low, how urine sodium helps assess hyponatremia and volume status, and when FENa is useful in kidney evaluation.

A urine sodium test measures the amount or concentration of sodium your kidneys are excreting. It is commonly used to help evaluate low blood...

Urine Specific Gravity Test: Hydration, Kidney Concentration, and Urine Dilution

Learn what urine specific gravity measures, what high or low values can mean, how hydration and kidney concentrating ability affect results, and when urine osmolality is more informative.

Urine specific gravity estimates how concentrated or dilute a urine sample is compared with pure water. It is a quick way to assess how...

Urine Sulfate Test: Acid Load, Diet, Kidney Stones, and Urine Chemistry

Learn what a 24-hour urine sulfate test shows, how sulfate reflects dietary acid load and protein metabolism, and how it fits with urine ammonium, pH, citrate, and kidney stone risk.

A urine sulfate test measures how much sulfate is excreted in urine, usually over 24 hours. It is most often used as part of...

Urine Urea Nitrogen Test: Protein Intake, Kidney Function, and Nitrogen Balance

Learn what a urine urea nitrogen test shows, why high or low UUN occurs, how it relates to protein intake and nitrogen balance, and how kidney function affects the result.

A urine urea nitrogen test measures the amount of nitrogen excreted in urine as urea, usually over 24 hours. Urea is the main nitrogen-containing...

Urine Uric Acid Test: High Levels, Gout, Kidney Stones, and Uric Acid Handling

Learn how a urine uric acid test is interpreted, including high and low levels, hyperuricosuria, kidney urate handling, gout, urine pH, and uric acid kidney stone risk.

A urine uric acid test measures how much uric acid leaves the body in urine, most often during a 24-hour collection. Uric acid is...