Urine. Urea. Uric acid. These are words that most of you had heard at one time or another. And like most people, you probably thought they were the same thing, for the most part anyway.
If you are not in the medical field, that could be crucial to your livelihood, and the differences between the three terms don’t really matter.
But what if you are scheduled for a urinalysis, and you need some quick answers to make sure you get the results you are looking for? Outside of urine, knowing the difference between uric acid and urea could become a bit more important to you.
Urea and uric acids are both found in human urine, and actually should be there, though the amount of either can signify whether:
- there is a medical problem
- the urine belongs to a woman or man
- the urine specimen provided is real urine or not.
Let’s get a better idea of the comparison and differences between urea and uric acid and why it is crucial if you are looking for a synthetic urine product to use.
What is Uric Acid?
Uric acid is the result of purine nucleotides being broken down and is something that is also typically found in human urine, though it is generally found in lower concentrations in women than in men.
Because it is a metabolite of purine nucleotides, people that tend to eat a large number of foods with purines in them, such as:
- Any alcoholic drinks
- Anchovies
- Sardines
- Trout
- Codfish
- Mussels
- Bacon
- Organ meats, like liver or kidneys
- Veal
- Turkey
- And others
The body can typically break down mild to moderate amounts of purines, turn it into uric acid and get it out of your body through you excretion when you pee or poop.
But if there is more than the body can handle, it begins to circulate in the blood, causing gout, kidney stones, and other discomforts.
So What is Urea?
Urea is a colorless crystalline compound that is the main nitrogenous breakdown product of protein metabolism in mammals and excreted in urine.
We all get acids, called Amino acids, that enter into our bloodstream from the breakdown of the proteins in our muscles or from eating certain types of foods.
These amino acids are of little to no use to the body except for being broken down, or oxidized, and used as an extra source of energy.
When the body breaks down amino acids, those acids create carbon dioxide and urea by way of being oxidized. The result of the body’s way of breaking down what it doesn’t need, and scavenging what it can use, from the amino acids, is how urea occurs.
But every process doesn’t yield perfect products. When the liver starts working on pulling the waste materials out, during the oxidation process, the nitrogen, produced during the process creates ammonia.
That’s great, right? Well, yeah, but ammonia is toxic to us, which means, sadly, it can kill us, and other animals, in high enough levels. All excretion of ammonia is not alike for every living organism on the planet, and in mammals, it is converted into urea.
Ever wonder why our urine has that acrid ammonia smell? Urea. On a side note, if you purchased a fake urine product that didn’t have an ammonia smell to it?
So let’s review what urea is:
Urea is a byproduct of protein metabolism that is formed inside the liver.
Because urea contains ammonia, which is toxic to the body, it must be quickly filtered from the blood by the kidneys and extracted in the urine you release.
So why is urea important? Urea is important because labs across the country are beginning to test for urea during the screening process. If the presence of urea is not detected in the urine sample, the end result will be returned as non-human.
Why is it Essential that Fake Pee Contains Uric Acid or Urea Acid?
Above we have talked about urea and uric acid, how they differ, and how they are both chemical compounds found in normal human urine. Why is this important when you are looking for a synthetic urine product?
Every screening may not look for uric acid, but the ammonia smell from urea needs to be there. If the technicians decide to look a little further at your sample, for one reason or another, you want it to match up with clean human urine as well as it possibly can.
What’s New in the Testing Industry?
You might often try to answer this question for your when researching synthetic urine such as the new Quick Fix 6.2 formula, even searching Google for urea Quick Fix 6.2 reviews can be confusing at times.
The number one question is can synthetic urine be detected.
The answer is that many labs have started to test for urea. Urea and uric acid are often interchanged, but they are not the same thing. Do not be fooled by other brands of synthetic urine that claim they include uric acid and urea.
Does Spectrum Labs Quick Fix Urine Contain Urea and Uric Acids?
Spectrum Labs patented formula 6.1 and newer version 6.2 in both the two-ounce and three-ounce versions both contain pre-mixed urea and uric acid as stated above. For over ten years people have relied on this one of a kind formula when everything is on the line.
FAQ’s
Is uric acid less toxic than urea?
Yes, uric acid is less toxic than urea, it is the least soluble in water of the two and it can be stored in body tissues and cells without any toxic effects. Humans have developed special mechanisms to deal with the extra toxicity by using the liver and kidney to process it. The production of the uric acid rather than urea is also superior because it requires less water to excrete it.
Is urea harmful to humans?
It is s only toxic in large quantities as in uremia, from end-stage kidney disease
Urea has very little in way of harmful or toxic effects in humans. It can be irritant to the respiratory system, eyes, and skin and it has been reported in fertilizer form it might cause dermatitis.
If you have a high concentration in your blood it can be dangerous. If an excess of urea deposits are found in the body, i is an indication that the kidneys are not fully functioning.
If you ever find yourself lost in the desert with your pet dog and decide to drink its urine this can be a bad move as dogs and many other mammals have a much higher urea level than humans and drinking it could be dangerous!
What is urea uric acid and creatinine?
We have discussed previously in the article what urea and uric acid are, along with creatine and creatinine these are the four main non-protein components that are routinely used to monitor renal function in patients.
They are all metabolic waste products in urine. You probably have heard of creatine as it is well known as a supplement for athletes and bodybuilders. Creatinine is the waste product of creatine that is excreted from the body in urine.
How does urea convert to uric acid?
The short answer is it doesn’t! Both urea and uric acid are two different compounds. uric acid is C5H4N4O3 while urea is (NH2)2CO.
If you’ve read the rest of the content of this article you should know what urea and uric acid are but just to recap;
Urea removes ammonia from the body through urination. Many urine screenings now screen for urea and if it is not found it will return the result as non-human.
Uric acid excretes purines from the body if there is an excess amount of uric acid in the blood it can cause conditions such as kidney stones and gout.
Both uric acid and urea are found in Quick Fix Synthetic Urine formulas 6.1 and 6.2.
Do kidneys produce uric acid?
The majority of uric acid in the body dissolves in the blood and ends up in the kidneys. Once there it is removed from the body in your urine. Your health can suffer if your body produces excess uric acid or doesn’t get rid of enough of it.
Resources
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Urea
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/dm/2019/4081962/
https://www.everydayhealth.com/urine/what-color-smell-your-urine-tell-you/