Color of urine indicate your hydration status, which means that urine color is also an tool to determine your hydration status. Most individual do not realize the color of there urine until they begin to feel thirsty. However, feeling thirsty indicate dehydration in the body.
By using a urine color chart to interpret the color of the urine that you produces, you can easy determine your hydration status at any given time. The kidneys change urine color when they are concentrating the waste in your body when your body dont have enough water. If your body is low in fluid levels, your kidneys will produce darker colored urine due to high amount of concentrated waste in your body.
Your urine color shows if you are hydrated
In contrast, if your body contain high levels of fluids, your kidneys will naturaly produce lighter colored urine due to high amount of water in your urine. By looking at the color of your urine in the morning, you can determine if you had enough fluids throughout the sleep period that passed. The first colored indication on the chart will show your hydration status when you are active.
If the color of your urine is very pale or pale yellow, you are properly maintain your hydration levels in your body. Pale yellow urine indicate that you are replacing the fluids that you naturally lose when you breathe and when you sweat. If your urine become a deeper yellow color, you are suffering from a mild fluid deficit in your body.
A mild fluid deficit mean that you need to drink more fluid. If you drink a few glass of water, you will correct your fluid deficit, and your urine will naturaly return to a pale color. There are a few factors that can change the color of your urine without indicating a change in your hydration status.
For example, consuming high doses of B vitamin will cause your urine to become bright yellow in color. Bright yellow colored urine due to high doses of B vitamins do not mean that you are dehydrated. Other example of medications that will change the color of your urine are antibiotics and laxative.
These drugs will make your urine orange or green in color. However, they will not reflect your hydration status. Lastly, foods like beets and dark berry will naturaly change the color of your urine.
However, this is again not a reflection of your hydration status. To properly understand your hydration status, use the urine color chart to differentiate between these various cause of changed urine color. To understand your hydration status properly, you need to check your urine color consistently.
Checking your urine color in the morning will show you how much fluid you drank during the night while sleeping. If your urine is dark yellow in color in the morning for several day in a row, this means that you are not drinking enough fluids throughout the day. If you are not drinking enough fluids, you need to increase the amount of water that you drink throughout the day.
Specifically, increase your fluid intake during the evening so that you can have lighter colored urine in the morning. If you are often physically active, your body will naturaly lose fluids and electrolyte through sweating. If you only drink water after performing an intense workout, the water will pass through your body quick, and your urine will turn darker in color.
To properly rehydrate after a workout, it is essential to drink fluids that contain water and electrolytes. By drinking fluids that contain water and electrolytes, you will allow your body to appropriately retain the amount of fluid that you drink. As you age, your body produce fewer fluids that indicate dehydration.
In contrast, younger individuals will feel thirsty when they are dehydrated. Individual of all ages can use the color of the urine to determine whether they are experiencing dehydration. In hot environment, the body will lose more fluid through sweating.
In these cases, you will need to aim for a lighter color of urine different than in cool environment due to the increased amount of fluids that are lost in hot weather. By looking at your urine color for a period of a full week, you can gain an understanding of your bodys hydration status. If the color of your urine is light yellow throughout the week, you are drinking enough fluids for your body to function normal.
However, if your urine becomes darker throughout the week, you will need to adjust the amount of fluid that you drink, the time that you drink your fluids, or the balance of the electrolyte in your body. Monitoring the color of your urine will give you an easy way to determine your hydration status each day.
