Last Updated on May 16, 2023
Human or animal urine has been consumed or applied locally for therapeutic purposes for thousands of years. Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome are the origins of recorded prescriptions in Europe. The use of urine and other excrements remained common in mediaeval times, but many of the innovations of ancient medicine were lost following the fall of the Roman Empire. It can be hypothesised that people in Africa, the Americas, and other regions of the world have long used pee for various medical causes. The benefits of drinking one’s own urine are described in ancient Indian yogic books and ancient Chinese manuscripts.
The 250,000,000 results returned from a Google search for “urine therapy” show that this practice is still rather common today.
What is Urine?
Water makes up 95% of human urine. The remaining components include smaller amounts of urea (2%), creatinine (0.1%), uric acid (0.03%), chloride, sodium, potassium, sulphate, ammonium, and phosphate, as well as other ions and molecules. Compared to the levels found in blood plasma, protein is only present in very little amounts.
Your body doesn’t need the fluid and waste components that makeup urine. Your kidneys function as filters, taking out extra water and cellular waste from the blood. Urine is produced from this waste and delivered to the bladder.
From your kidneys to your urethra, your urinary tract is present. There are two kidneys in your body, one on each side. Urine is transported from the kidneys to the bladder through two ureters, which are muscular tubes. Nerve endings in your bladder inform your brain when it is time to use the restroom.
Urine leaves the body through a little tube known as the urethra when the bladder is emptied. Some bacterial species reside in the urethra. These bacteria often don’t create any issues unless they go out of hand. However, studies on the makeup of urine reveal that these bacteria can taint it as it leaves the body.
Read: What are Natural Remedies for Common Health Issues?
What is Urotherapy?
Traditional therapies like urotherapy involve drinking one’s own urine or using it to massage the skin or gums. It appears to have its roots in both Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda. Ancient cultures have employed urine therapy as a poison antidote and a healing tonic for infections. Ayurveda has also been termed a spiritual discipline.
There is a belief in Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that it is beneficial for you to consume foods that are comparable to those you are trying to cure. As an illustration, eating tripe is excellent for your stomach, eating meat is good for your muscles, and so forth. In actuality, desiccated porcine (pig) thyroid is used to make a common thyroid medicine. Therefore, if the kidneys are deficient in particular nutrients, urine, a material that is stored in the kidneys and discharged through the urinary system, may be able to assist. Small amounts of pee, according to certain TCM practitioners, can be cleansing, clear away extra mucus, and function as an antiseptic.
There are some persons who have tried urotherapy recently, despite the fact that the method has roots in TCM and Ayurvedic traditions. Similar broad-based claims regarding urine’s healing abilities are still made by supporters today. So, should you add your morning urination to your smoothie? Most likely not.
The benefits of drinking urine have not been proven scientifically. Contrarily, research indicates that consuming it may cause the bloodstream to become contaminated with harmful bacteria, toxins, and other substances. Your kidneys may even experience undue strain as a result.
Continue reading to find out more about the possible consequences of drinking pee.
Claimed Benefits of Drinking Your Own Urine
One of the materials that are readily available on the globe is urine. Over the course of the day, everyone produces some pee. Due to the prevalence of urine, numerous folk medicines have employed it in one way or another to cure a range of illnesses. In the past, it was utilised as a home treatment for illnesses like:
- Asthma
- Arthritis
- Asthma
- Cancer
- Indigestion
- Migraines
- Infertility
In modern-day Nigeria, some traditional communities still use it as a home remedy for children with seizures. Despite the abundance of folk remedies, science unanimously agrees that drinking pee is unsafe and unhealthy. Contrary to what tense survival films may have you believe, drinking urine isn’t even a healthy way to stay hydrated.
Potential Risks of Drinking Urine
Your body is trying to rid itself of salts and chemicals, which are powerfully combined in urine. If you consume these chemicals, it could have a serious negative impact on your health. Additionally, drinking it does not offer any health advantages over ingesting other foods and beverages.
Dehydration
To avoid dehydration is the most frequent justification for drinking urine in movies and popular culture. Sometimes people are shown drinking their own urine to retain moisture when they are adrift at sea or in the middle of the desert. It is very doubtful that this will actually be helpful.
If you become dehydrated, the amount of salt in your urine increases and becomes much more concentrated. People who are dehydrated can quickly have too much salt in their urine.
You become more thirsty when you consume extra sodium. Being more dehydrated is swiftly brought on by higher salt levels in the body. You can quickly create a negative feedback loop where you feel thirstier despite consuming liquids by ingesting urine, which has a high sodium concentration.
Excessive Sweating
The hazards of consuming urine can rise when you sweat. Normally, sweating causes your body to expel salts and water. Your electrolyte levels maintain equilibrium when you are also losing salt through your urine. Re-consuming the salts from it, on the other hand, concentrates salts inside your body and worsens thirst. Even under dire circumstances, the US Army’s field handbook expressly advises against drinking urine to stay hydrated.
Interference with Medications
After being metabolised by your body, many drugs are eliminated in urine. These drugs are not broken down; instead, they leave your body in a state that is very identical to the one they entered it in. Penicillin and all water-soluble drugs are examples of drugs that can be excreted in this manner.
You introduce any of these medications into your body by drinking urine that contains them. You will go above and above the recommended dosage if the drugs are ones you already take. You might introduce pharmaceuticals that have not been recommended for you if you drink someone else’s urine. This may result in harmful reactions and critical health issues.
Infections
Contrary to popular belief, pee is not sterile. Just like any other physiological discharge, it contains microorganisms. It’s possible that urine collection techniques introduced bacteria from the source’s genitalia. Some of these microorganisms can cause life-threatening illnesses. Unless it has been sterilised individually, drinking any kind of pee can have major health repercussions.
Toxins
Toxic compounds are particularly removed from your body by your urinary system. Urine is one of the main ways your body gets rid of harmful toxins when they start to accumulate there. Whatever your kidneys take from your body is eliminated through your urine. You are ingesting these toxins that your body was designed to eliminate by drinking pee. As a result, having to work harder to handle the elevated concentration of hazardous compounds can cause kidney damage or disease.
Read: How Does Volunteering Positively Impact Your Life?
Healthier Alternatives
When applied topically, urea, a component in urine, may have advantages. When pee is applied to the skin, none of the hazardous effects that come with drinking it takes effect. Even skincare products include synthetic urea.
Water, electrolyte drinks, and the majority of other beverages are probably safer to take when hydrating than pee. It has no health benefits, and drinking any other beverage is probably safer for you overall. Urine won’t help you, even though it’s unlikely to damage you in modest amounts.
Before you go…
Hey, thank you for reading this blog to the end. I hope it was helpful. Let me tell you a little bit about Nicholas Idoko Technologies. We help businesses and companies build an online presence by developing web, mobile, desktop and blockchain applications.
As a company, we work with your budget in developing your ideas and projects beautifully and elegantly as well as participate in the growth of your business. We do a lot of freelance work in various sectors such as blockchain, booking, e-commerce, education, online games, voting and payments. Our ability to provide the needed resources to help clients develop their software packages for their targeted audience on schedule.
Be sure to contact us if you need our services! We are readily available.
