Is it true that drinking urine is healthy?

[Marat]

I think the OP was probably referring to the alternative medicine theory that by drinking your own urine you can induce your body to produce a health-promoting reaction to toxic allergens. Some people have even injected their own sterilized urine subcutaneously for this effect. It supposedly makes people very tired after the injection and then after a few weeks of this treatment they start to feel stronger and healthier. I don't know if any serious research has been done in this speculative subject.

[lemur]

I heard recently that cows can develop digestive flora that can allow them to live on a mixture of low-nutrient grass and urine because the urine can somehow be broken down into forms of nitrogen that are available to the cow for protein-synthesis. I don't know how true this is or if humans could develop similar flora. Imagine being able to live by drinking ammonia and eating only carbs!

[jimfaster]

healthy urine is sterile, so it is safe to drink in that sense, it is FRESH! However, urine contains the waste metabolites in the kidneys flush with the body, so drink to fire waste. If you have taken organic alkaloid, such as mescaline or psylocybin, are mainly excreted unchanged, so you can focus on the alkaloid and continue to be high, but then the question is, is good for using drugs?

[Kikis]

Is it true that drinking your own urine is healthy? My friend says that there are many health benefits from doing so. initially i didn't believe it but after surfing the net a little, i 've found a lot of sites supporting this idea. so, what's the general consensus among SFN?

 

I think that was a worse action for drinking your own urine. If the reason was about for health, i think there were many healthy drink but not urine, because the human urine had been through digestion process in human body and it had been punish as liquid waste. Why don't we drink an orange juice, tomato juice, that's healthy i guess

Edited March 20, 2011 by Kikis

[20west]

Hi All,

I'm currently casting for a documentary television series that profiles individuals with unique and uncommon addictions, obsessions, and compulsive behaviors. As there seems to be some back and forth opinions on drinking urine, we thought it might be interesting to profile someone who drinks their own urine every day and relies on their urine as a source of fluids.

 

If you or someone you know might be interested in participating on this series, please email me at kcox@20west.tv for further information.

 

Thank you!

Krissy

[Chap]

just adding my thoughts; I don't think drinking urine has any health benefits. As many people have pointed out, it is a waste product of the body. Many people have stated that urine is safe to drink since it does not contain any pathogens, but it has to be noted that only FRESH urine doesn't contain any pathogens. Urine is a very good nitrogen source, so as soon as it contacts the environment, it becomes a bacterial heaven! So unless you immediately collect and drink the urine, its going to contain a LOT of microorganisms.

 

I heard that ancient civilizations used to brush their teeth with urine. This maybe a good idea, since urine contains urea, which gets immediately broken down into ammonia by microorganisms. Ammonia is a base and may help to neutralize the slight acidity present in the mouth, which is responsible for tooth decay. Its just like taking fluoride tablets, I guess. However I think toothpaste is a much better option.

 

I have also heard that vitamin B12 is made in the lower part of our large intestine (by action of microorganisms) and is not usually absorbed into the body (since its too far away). This is why we need to take Vitamin B12 from other sources, rather than from our own body (unless you consider eating your own you-know-what). Maybe (only MAYBE) the same principle applies to urine in some way? Urea is the main impurity and it usually gets broken down into ammonia by microorganisms, but what about the other waste products. Maybe they get broken down into some useful substance by the microorganisms?

 

I don't think drinking urine is good for survival, but it depends on the particular situation. Consider that you drank a lot of water and then you suddenly got lost in the dessert. Then the body would try to eliminate the excess water in your urine and it maybe a good idea to drink your own urine. However consider that you were lost in the dessert for more than a day (without water). Then your urine will be highly concentrated and will not help you at all. Since it is not drinking water that counts; but drinking water which has a higher water potential than your own blood, right?

 

Just my two cents on the subject.

[Andrew Polyak]

I'd imagine the urine would mess with the milliosmolarity in the urine, but that probrably wouldn't be affected after ingesting absurd amounts of urine, haha. Bear Grylls doesn't seem to have a problem with it.

[genraven]

I wouldn't think so. I think the salt alone would do more harm then help.