Peeing on a stick can seem gross… but it may provide insights into your overall feeling of wellness. Of all the things that at home urine tests can track, one of the common ones is hydration. Arguably this is the easiest to measure without a test, starting well hydrated will be apparent in the color of your urine, but a test can still help.
Hydration is important for so many things. Other than getting enough sleep, staying hydrated is one of the best things you can do for yo day to day well being. The old “drink 8 glasses of water a day” is helpful but it is of course only a rule of thumb.
Depending on your daily output, diet, the weather, alcohol intake, and your activity levels your hydration levels will vary. Tracking hydration assists in improving performance. Thankfully for tests like the Vivoo at home kit hydration is one of the easiest and most reliable measurements.
Even without being fully dehydrated, low levels of water intake can link to tiredness and headaches. But more importantly all of your bodies’ cellular function requires some amount of water. Staying hydrated can help in everything from lowering blood pressure to maintaining mental focus.
The readings shown above are from a single score taken after a night of poor diet and minimal water intake. So how quickly can you alter the water levels in your body and how quickly will this show up in tracking hydration?
Below are readings from the same Vivoo test only 24 hours later. This is after a Saturday spent out in the sun, a lunch with a few beers, and a casual but light dinner. All that time though was supplemented with a water bottle in hand at all times. In total at least 200 oz of water. This may sound like a lot compared to the 64 oz recommended, but that’s sometimes what it takes to make up for a day of dehydration.
At no time, even right after the Vivoo hydration score of “2” did any other signs of dehydration really show up. The punch test of skin was fine, although that is more a test of severe hydration issues. Still even moderate levels of dehydration can add to general wellness issues.
Keeping a water bottle on hand is a great idea for manually tracking hydration. There are some “smart water bottles”, a topic that a connected wellness site is likely to cover. But most of these are a bit of overkill as they only monitor intake (or more accurately outflow from the bottle) that don’t take into account the weather, activity levels, spills, or diet. A simple cup of coffee can even play a part in providing the body much needed water. Sugary drinks, although lot the best, that have a primary water base also help although the additives can offset some of the effects. Still, any food or drink with some water in it (fruit especially) can help avoid low levels of dehydration.
How does Vivoo measure Hydration?
According to their site, Vivoo monitors the specific gravity of urine. This uses a standard test monitoring how your urine compares to the specific gravity of water, which should measure 1.005 with a level of 1.035 showing significant dehydration.
The higher levels of urine specific gravity show that there is a higher concentration of waste in urine. That means it is less diluted or has less parts water. Diluting the waste more thoroughly with water allows the body to rid itself of toxins more efficiently.