by paying attention to when you head to the restroom. Your Healthy Body’s main tool for maintaining water balance is through controlling how concentrated or how diluted your urine is.
If you have too much water, your Healthy Body will get rid of the excess through diluted urine and extra trips to the bathroom. If you are dehydrated, your Healthy Body will conserve water by producing very concentrated urine and less frequent bathroom breaks. The color of your urine is one of the most accurate ways for you to gauge your level of hydration. Ideally, you should aim for a pale yellow color. If your urine is completely clear with no color at all, you are drinking too much water. If your urine is dark yellow or orange in color, that can indicate poor hydration.
However, keep in mind that there are a few things that can make urine appear darker even if you are well hydrated, like some medications and foods. For example, vitamins like riboflavin may cause urine to appear bright yellow. In addition to color, the frequency of your trips to the bathroom can provide a good measure of how hydrated you are. You should be heading to the bathroom every four to six hours during the day. If you go less often than once in six hours, you need to drink more water.
One of the benefits of using this method is that you can check on your hydration status several times a day and find out if you’re not getting enough water, getting too much water, or drinking just the right amount.
