Here’s what the colour of your urine says about your health

Much more than we thought actually…

The colour of your urine says a lot about your health, being intrinsically linked to how hydrated you are.

For the uninitiated, the ideal urine shade is a pale straw or a transparent yellow colour, with darker shades coming as a warning sign that you need to drink more water.

Other symptoms of minor cases of dehydration include headaches, dry skin and dizziness, but it can easily worsen with severe dehydration leading to low blood pressure, increased heart rate, seizures, abdominal pain, fevers and even kidney damage.

So it’s definitely a problem, but still, up to 7.2 million British adults are going without drinking water every day. And according to SodaStream, while 1 in 7 of us don’t drink a glass of water on a typical day, over half of us have an alcoholic drink each day.

The problem it has been suggested is a lack of awareness around how much water we should be drinking, but there is a growing belief that we should pay less attention to the EU daily drinking recommendations and spend more time tracking our own urine instead.

To help Brits better understand dehydration warning signs, SodaStream has created a 50 Shades of Yellow pee chart with the help of Dr Dawn Harper, advising on hydration health and instructing when to increase water consumption.

‘There is still a lot of confusion around recommended daily allowances for water,’ explained Dr Dawn Harper. ‘The amount of fluid your body requires depends on several variable factors including; ambient temperature, exercise levels and other fluid in foods you’ve eaten.’

She continued: ‘By the time headaches develop, you are already significantly dehydrated. It’s better to take action sooner by keeping an eye on urine colour. Your urine should consistently be the colour of shade 1 to 20 on our 50 Shades of Yellow pee chart. In extreme cases, dehydration can cause kidney problems, so if it’s not the right colour, then act and get access to water!’

After upping your water intake, If you are still alarmed by the colour of your urine, you should contact your local GP.