izusek via Getty Images Teenage girl with braided hair sitting on sofa in her room and drinking water. I’d always believed the myth that everyone has to drink eight glasses of water a day, but following it took its toll on my bladder. “Water just goes straight through me,” I’d tell people (sorry if you heard that from me constantly circa 2018-2023).

Advertisement I’d also constantly panic it meant I wasn’t “absorbing” the H2O I needed. I’ve since learned, to my relief and my loved ones’, that how much we need to drink depends on the person ; we also get moisture from other sources, like food. And as of yesterday, I’ve also learned that there’s no such thing as “water passing right through you” ― instead, a far more complex process is taking place.

How does it happen? According to Dr. Michael , who debunks medical myths on TikTok, peeing immediately after you drink doesn’t mean you’re getting rid of the liquid before your body can take in the water it needs. Nor does it mean, as the person he Stitched suggested, that you’re dehydrated.

While most of us complain of a small bladder, Dr. Micheal explained that “the regulation of how much pee you produce actually comes from the brain.” Advertisement Your kidneys are instructed on how much water to filter, and to what extent, by the pituitary gland in your brain, he says.

That’s because that part of your mind “can detect how concentrated or how dilute your blood is.” If your blood is re.