If you are a fan of interior design, or you have ever spent time choosing a paint colour for your home, you will be familiar with those small cardboard colour charts. Every single colour in the world of interior design, fashion, art and creative industry has been logged by a company called Pantone. They give every shade a name and number – if they don’t have the colour you are looking for, it probably doesn’t exist yet.
Colour Charts for Hydration
This year, Pantone have created a brand new colour chart, partnering with Highland Springs to emphasize the importance of hydration. This chart features five shades of pee, highlighting the different colours of urine and giving them names to indicate which are the healthiest shades. As a quick spoiler guide, generally, the darker your urine, the more dehydrated you are.
The darkest shade is called Dry Spell and is an indication of severe dehydration – if your wee is this colour, then you need to get a drink, and possibly medical attention, immediately! The next stage is called You’re at Amber and is slightly less brown than the first shade, but still very pigmented, indicating that severe dehydration is imminent, but it could be reversed with a glass of water or two.
The middle shade is called Glass Half Full. This dark yellow colour recognizes that the body does have some water in it, but it is still not quite enough for it to be able to function at its optimum level. Feeling Good is a positive shade, indicating healthy hydration levels, although there is still room for improvement.
Finally, Highland Spring in your Step is the colour that all urine should be. This shade shows that the body is running at its very best, thanks to a high concentration of hydration that is evident in your output!
A Guide for Greatness
Of course, this chart is intended to be used as a guide only and does not take into account any other factors that may be occurring within the body. If you have a poor diet or any medical complaints, these may well affect the aesthetic of your urine. However, guides like these can be very useful when it comes to determining how much water you should be drinking each day.
The current government guidelines stand at eight glasses of water a day, but of course, there is never a one-size-fits-all approach to diet. This amount can depend on the amount of hydration you get from food, your activity level and how well your body filters the liquid. Since there is no definite amount of how much you should be drinking, keeping a close eye on your urine can ensure you have an idea of what is going on in your body. If your current hydration levels aren’t adequate, your pee will soon tell you, so that you know to drink more (or less) on a daily basis.
