Are you short of water? If these three situations occur, please replenish water immediately.

Editor’s note: May 15-21 is the 8th National Nutrition Week. The theme of the event is: Know how to cook, choose, and read labels. The slogans of the event are: “Healthy China Nutrition First”, “New Dietary Guidelines for Health and Oftentimes” accompany”. Qilu Evening News Qilu Yidian launched a series of popular science articles to advocate reasonable diet, eliminate waste, prevent disease and other dietary trends.

Reporter Wang Xiaomeng Correspondent Wang Kebo

“Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents (2022)” recommends drinking enough water, and a small amount of time. In mild climates, adults with low physical activity levels drink 1700ml of water per day and adult women drink 1500ml of water per day. When the intake of water is too low or the water is lost too much, it will cause dehydration and the body will be in a state of dehydration. So, how to judge whether the body is dehydrated? The easy way to do this is to judge the hydration state of the body based on thirst, frequency of urination, volume and color of urine.

(1) Thirst: When the osmotic pressure receptors in the hypothalamus of the body sense the increase in the osmotic pressure of the internal environment, they will transmit this information to the cerebral cortex, thereby producing the subjective feeling of thirst. It should be noted, however, that thirst is already a signal that the body is obviously dehydrated. Therefore, to avoid thirst, you should take the initiative to drink water.

(2) Frequency and volume of urination: The frequency of urination in general healthy adults is 4-8 times a day, the volume of urination is 500-4000ml per day, the volume of urination is about 300ml each time, the frequency of urination and the volume of urination closely related to water intake. When the frequency of urination and the amount of urine are lower than usual, it indicates that the water intake is too low, and the body may be dehydrated.

(3) Urine color: The normal urine color of healthy adults is slightly yellow and transparent. When there is too little water, the kidneys increase the reabsorption of water, thereby reducing the excretion of water, so that the urine is concentrated, and the color of the urine darkens, and deepens with the increase of the degree of water shortage. Therefore, the hydration status of the body can be judged by the color of urine. When hydration is sufficient, normal urine color is clear yellow or light yellow. When the color of the urine darkens and turns yellow, the body may take in less water and there is a state of dehydration; when it appears darker yellow and dark yellow, it indicates that the body is dehydrated or dehydrated, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Urine color and hydration status