Urine therapy (aka Urotherapy) is a
technique used in alternative medicine that involves drinking your
own urine (or sometimes the urine of others). It sounds absurd, but
there are several claims that it is a very powerful form of
natural that can cure:
“multiple sclerosis, colitis,
lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, hepatitis, hyperactivity,
pancreatic insufficiency, psoriasis, eczema, diabetes, herpes,
mononucleosis, adrenal failure, allergies and so many other ailments” and even more.
Other
claims include killing bacteria in wounds, smoothing the face, even
eating away at blood clots. There are also some cases of urine
therapy helping people who suffer from hair loss.
From
what information
I gathered on a few websites, urotherapy has been used for several
years in various cultures, dating as far back as 2000BCE. Urine is a nontoxic liquid
by-product of the body composed of 95% water, 2.5% urea, and 2.5%
minerals, salts, melatonin, and enzymes. It is also an antiseptic --
capable of killing micro-organisms. The main component of urine is
urea, an antibacterial,
anti-fungal and antiviral agent.
<---Urea in its solid form
Urea is colorless, odorless (when
dry), and decomposes proteins . It is the main ingredient in many
products that we use everyday such as, for example, whitening
toothpaste, facial creams, cold compresses, hair conditioners,
cigarettes, hair removing products, etc., etc. There are times in
desperate situations that people have to sometimes drink their own
urine in order to survive.
Doctors
recommend drinking the urine (mixed with water) people pass when they
first wake up. The following statement is copied from Jeff Lowe on
his Vanderbilt website:
“When
you drink your own urine, it does not go directly to the blood
stream. First it goes into the digestive system where its ingredients
are sorted out. Then, the useful ingredients are recycled while the
toxins are rejected. When the level of toxins becomes too high, the
toxins stimulate the intestines into flushing themselves out to
eliminate any stagnated excrements accumulated in the colon. Although
we could probably filter out the toxins before drinking the urine,
the toxins are needed because they stimulate a cleansing reaction in
the body. Urine, which remember, is a byproduct of our blood, becomes
more purified the more it is recycled. Thus, the cleaner the blood
is, the cleaner the urine is, and vice-versa. And this is how urine
therapy advocates conclude that urine therapy has a cleansing effect
on the blood.”
I found very few implications
to drinking urine. However, since urine is a waste product from the
body, it still contains products that do not belong in the body.
When it is consumed, it could cause skin and eye irritations. In
diabetics, drinking urine could cause loss of control in blood sugar
and insulin levels; diarrhea; fever; fatigue.
It
can be concluded that
while people today are not into drinking urine everyday, urine
therapy has been around for a long time and it is quite beneficial
for one's health. It has become one of the many forms of alternative
medicine where products made from urea are sold to help improve the
health of other. There is very little risk in doing this and those
who do have seen positive results.
Links used
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ans/psychology/health_psychology/Urine_Therapy.htm
http://voices.yahoo.com/risks-urine-therapy-diabetes-6419922.html
www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/urine_therapy.html
http://www.heartlandhealing.com/pages/archive/urine_therapy/index.html
http://www.skepdic.com/urine.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urine
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/urine.htm
Posts
I remember in one of the episodes of Man vs. Wild, he drank his own urine to prevent dehydration. I feel apprehensive about the idea of it just because it is waste expelled from the body. However, I didn't know that by drinking urine that the digestive system goes through all those processes! Interesting post!
ReplyDeleteDespite the supposed benefits of drinking urine, I just cannot wrap my head around the concept of actually doing it. Very interesting, though. I do hear that actual urine is not in our bath and beuaty products, thankfully, just a mixture of other chemicals. Urea, e.g. imidazolidinyl urea, serves as a preservative that releases small amounts of formaldehyde (yuck) to kill off bacteria, so it does serve a good purpose. Also, doesn't urine help with jellyfish stings? That's what I heard, anyway.
ReplyDeleteSource: http://blastmagazine.com/the-magazine/culturefashion/is-someone-peeing-in-your-beauty-products/