Drinking Your Own Urine Can Make You Strong

Drinking Your Own Urine Can Make You Strong 1

Introduction

In the field of scientific medicine, little attention has been given to urine for it is

classification as liquid waste of our bodies. Thereby it is generally ignored by doctors and the

general public. But then in the field of alternative medicine, the spotlight has focused on urine as

the elixir of life, for over centuries of speculation. Urine is a claimed source of strength, the very

liquid we should consume every day, and the key to our own life source (Karsten, 2007).

Our research aims to disprove the positive effects of drinking urine for the purpose of

gaining physical strength. The researchers have collect evidences that drinking urine cannot

make you strong, and it could even cause your body to have some complications or health

problems

The history of drinking urine, for therapeutic purposes, dates back to the Holy Roman

Empire, 10th Century CE (Kelly, 1997). Traditional medicine gives an importance to urine as

medication or a health tonic. The logic is that, urine is believed to not be waste, instead it is an

excess of essential vitamins and minerals. Whatever disease may passed on in the urine, has

already infected the person, so in turn drinking it would be to recirculate the sickness back into

the body for the immune system to reassess, what needs to be done to recover (Wardell, 2008).

In one of the documentaries we have watched in Rated K, and Jessica Soho, the people

who drink urine, they believe that consuming it makes them strong and healthy. More testaments

were found that the told treatment can make them strong. As an example, Juan Manuel Marquez,

an elite world boxer, stated in an interview, he said that drinking urine was one of his training

routine, and also he stated that his own urine was the reason for him to be strong (Canoy, 2011)


But if you would ask any doctor, who values his medical degree, would deny the claims

of urine therapy, for they know already of what generally composes our urine. Science has given

the doctors knowledge of what happens inside the human body. They do not cling to the old and

traditional ways of healing and have moved on to more precise and sensible decisions this is also

called conventional medicine.

The question remains though, is it really disproven? Or have the doctors conspired

against us so we do not drink urine, ensuring that we would need them? Or perhaps Urine

Therapy uses a tradition that tied for it had no medical benefits.


It has been a topic of discussions and investigations that intake of human’s urine has

positive effects. Myths and hearsays pass from generations to generations up to now, some

people still believe it. For some reason this issue hasn’t provided clear evidence that it could

really make the person strong, prolonged his life, and curing the disease that can’t be cured by a

conventional doctors.

Urine was composed of waste products of the body. There are no significant components

of urine that can boost a person’s strength. Human urine consists of 95% water and 5% solutes.

This organic solutes includes urea, uric acid, creatinine and trace amount of enzymes,

carbohydrates, hormones, fatty acids, pigments, mucins and inorganic ions such as sodium (Na+),

potassium (K+), chloride (Cl-), magnesium (Mg2+), calcium (Ca2+), ammonium (NH4+), sulfates

(SO42-), and phosphates (PO4

3-) (Jain, M., 2008). Urine is composed of 33 to 35 grams of

nitrogenous waste and 25 grams of salt per 1500 milliliters (Jain, 2008). With these amounts of

solutes per liters of urine, there is no way that drinking urine will affect the strength of a person.

Urea forming nearly one – half of the whole quantity of solutes with 30 grams per 1500 ml. of

urine, is not for strength gaining purposes. The main purpose of urea in our body is for the

metabolism of our body. Second, Uric acid with 1 gram per 1500 ml of urine, can lead to serious

problems such as gout and other kidney problems. Third, Creatinine which is one of the solutes

of the urine with 1 to 5 grams per 1500ml, is a waste product that can be used as an indicator for

any kidney malfunctions. The purpose of creatinine is clearly not for gaining strength. Fourth,

Positive and Negative ions, urine has positive ions such as sodium, potassium, magnesium,

ammonium and calcium. Generally, positive ions in our body are harmful. There are also

negative ions in the urine such as chlorides, sulphates and phosphates. Negative ions are good in

our body but considering the amount of it in urine, the effect is insignificant. Basically, urine is a


waste product from blood of human. Being a waste product does not mean that a substance is

toxic or harmful. It means that the body cannot absorb the substance at the present time. We may

think on many of urine’s constituents as if they were leftovers from a meal. We could throw the

excess food away or we could eat it later after diluting it substantially with water and putting it in

the blender. With urine unfortunately, we could not ingest waste products in the form they had

when first ingested (Wardell, 2008).

Let us focus on the components of urine. First, Urea serves an in important role in the

metabolism of nitrogen containing compounds by animals and is the main nitrogen – containing

substance in the urine mammals. It is solid, colorless, and odorless (although the ammonia, that it

gives of in the presence of water, including water vapor in the air, has a strong odor.). the body

uses it in many processes, the most notable on being nitrogen excretion. The handling of urea by

the kidneys is a vital part of human metabolism. Besides its role as carrier of waste nitrogen, urea

also plays a role in the countercurrent exchange system of the nephrons that allows for re-

absorption of water and critical ions from the excreted urine. Urine is water-soluble compound

that is the major nitrogenous end product of protein metabolism and is the chief nitrogenous

component of the urine in mammals and other organisms. Urea in a form of urine is basically a

waste product of your body. It is excreted in the form of urine because your body cannot absorb

it. In short, it is an excess. There is also no way that urea can be a source of strength of a person

because primarily it is only a carrier of waste nitrogen in the body.

Second Uric acid, it is the final product of the breakdown of the protein purines. Final

product because humans (also higher primates) do not have the enzyme urate oxidase (also called

Uri case) to break it down further. Uric acid is produced when the enzyme xanthine oxidase

breaks down purine. While it is dissolved in the blood, it accounts for over half the antioxidant


capacity of blood plasma. Same with another metabolic product ascorbic acid, uric acid is also a

potent reducing agent and antioxidant. It has the highest concentration among all antioxidants in

the blood. Uric acid becomes a problem when it is produced excessive by the body. This happen

when defective genes result in the enzyme xanthine oxidase, responsible for its break down,

having too much catalytic activity. High uric acid, a condition medically known as

hyperuricemia can lead to gout. Gout occurs when excess uric acid is crystallized and deposited

in the joints resulting to join inflammation and pain. Uric acid since it is an antioxidant, can

increase the immunity of a person against illnesses. But considering the amount of it in urine, the

effect of it in our system will be irrelevant. Anything that is excreted by our body is an excess.

Therefore it is unnecessary to bring back to the system because it will be declined by the body

again, too much uric acid in the body can cause a serious medical problems such as gout and

kidney malfunctions.

Third Creatinine, it is a chemical waste molecule that is generated from muscle

metabolism. Creatinine is produced from creatine, a molecule of major importance for energy

production in muscles, approximately 2% of the body’s creatin is converted to creatinine every

day is transported through the bloodstream to the kidneys. The kidney filer out most of the

creatinine and dispose of it in the urine. Although it is a waste, creatinine serve a vital diagnostic

function. Creatinine is not a source of energy. It is a waste product used as an indicator of renal

functions of the body.

In addition to the components of the urine, there are also inorganic solute that can be

found in a human’s urine. This are the positive and negative ions such as sodium (Na+),



2-) are excreted by our body in the form of urine, Ions are atoms or


groups that have either lost some outer electrons, hence have a positive electric charge, or have

gained some outer electron (to the atom or groups of atoms), and hence have electric of particles

and therefore tend to be relatively small. If the positive ions occur naturally insufficient numbers,

for instance during the onset of commonly known hot and dry desert winds, the winds that

caused depression, nausea, insomnia, irritability, lassitude, migraine, asthma attacks, and also

affect the normal function of the thyroid glands. Biochemically speaking, the body becomes

exhausted and this can lead to an increase in accidents, violent crime and suicides. These can be

counteracted with the beneficial negative ions. The negative ions contribute to the feeling of

well-being. They reduce the number of active harmful bacteria in the air, the severity of illness;

in general they have a stimulating effect also on plant growth the rainwater, which clears the air.

“There are no health benefits to drinking your own urine and in fact I think it could be

quite detrimental. Each time you put is back it will come out again even more concentrate and

that is not good for health as it could damage the gut. If you are stranded, your body will try to

conserve as much water as it can. Drinking your urine would be like drinking seawater.”

(Andrews, 2007). Still, drinking your own urine has no known health benefit. Urine is at least 95

percent but the remaining 5 percent is not good for you that are why your body is getting rid of

it. It comes excess electrolytes such as chloride, sodium and potassium. Electrolytes enable some

of our cells to conduct electricity but too much sodium draws the water out of our cells,

dehydrating us, and too much potassium leads to heart attack. “think about it like drinking ocean

water” say Jeff Guillar a nephrologist (kidney doctor) at south Denver Nephrology Associates in

Colorado. “It’s going to dehydrated you and do significantly more harm than good”.

For some people, one’s own urine is not likely to be harmful. However, it is not like to be

healthful or useful except for those rare occasions when one is buried beneath a building or lost


at sea for a week or two. In such situations drinking one’s own urine might be the difference

between life and death. As a daily tonic, there much tastier ways to introduce healthful products

into one’s blood stream.

Since urine was composed of waste product of the body, drinking it over a period of time

have a negative effect to the body. The physical health of the drinker would be more in risk if

he/she continuously to intake his/her own urine, because of the waste components of the urine

that might give the drinker possibilities of having an illness. According to the components of the

urine, it has an organic solutes includes urea, uric acid, creatinine and trace amount of enzymes,

carbohydrates, hormones, fatty acids, pigments, mucins and inorganic ions such as sodium (Na+),



3-) (Jain, 2008).

The researchers provide evidences that ingesting back the urine can make a negative

effect to your body due to the main components that can be found in the urine. First, Urea in the

blood should only be 5 to 25 milligrams per deciliter, too much urea in the blood could be the

root to Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) (Harum, 2004). CKD is a disease on malfunctioning of

the kidney, if a person intake the urine over a period of time there will be a large possibility that

the consumer would have a CKD, because urea is the largest solute in the human urine. Ingesting

the urine could make the urea rise on the limits. Also urea can be irritating to skin, eyes, and the

respiratory tract. Repeated or prolong contact with urea on the skin may cause dermatitis.

Second, Uric Acid, it is chemical waste product of the breakdown of the substance called purine.

Purines are found in food and beverages like liver, dried beans, beer and wine. Increased

concentrations of uric acid can cause kidney stone, gout, acidosis, leukemia, nephrolithiasis,

polycythemia vera, and renal failure (Dugdale, 2011). Finally, it is a breakdown product of


creatine. Increased in creatinine show diseases or conditions that affect the kidney function.

These diseases includes Glomerulonephritis (Damage or swelling of blood vessels in the kidney),

Pyelonephritis (Bacterial infection of the kidneys), Acute tubular necrosis (Death of cells in the

kidneys’ small tubes), Prostate disease, kidney stone, and other causes of urinary tract

obstruction (Dugdale, 2011).

In addition, Urine also contains Positive and negative ions. Positive ions such as sodium

(Na+), potassium (K+), magnesium (Mg2+), calcium (Ca2+) can make you feel depressed, lethargic

and full of aches, pains and complains. Furthermore ammonia (NH4+) is also produced in the

excreting the waste product in the kidney; it is a corrosive chemical waste that can damage your

cells if you were exposed on it. Positive ions have only small quantity on urine but it can affect

the mood of the consumer and also ammonia can destroy cells in a human’s body. However

negative ions such as chloride (cl-), sulfate (SO42-) and phosphates can make you feel alive,

uplifted and enthusiastic.

Actually, the drinkers should be aware to the condition of his body before attempting to

consume his urine, because if he is not conscious about his health condition and he try to

consume his urine. His urine might be a high concentrated that is dangerous and could make a

person sick. For instance, if a person has Chronic Kidney Disease and he believes that urine

could cure his disease. In fact his condition will be more complicated, because the kidney of

CKD patience has a malfunction in filtering the waste urea in the blood. If he consumes his

urine, more waste products especially urea will be on his blood, this event could go into kidney

failure.


Urine drinkers and the normal people who do not drink urine have difference when it is

all about health. The big difference is that urine drinkers become healthy because they

accompany their drinking with a healthy lifestyle. This is what makes the difference.

People who drink urine are said to be healthier than those who does not. This statement is

said by also a urine drinker in one of the articles we found but according to our interviewee who

is a urinologist says that this is not true because urine is a waste product that is released by our

body. Therefore, urine, being a waste product of our body, does not provide any health or

strength benefits. Also, through a healthy diet they can become healthier than those who don’t

drink urine and does not have a healthy lifestyle.

An example of a person who drinks urine for strength purpose is a Mexican Boxer, Juan

Manuel Marquez, who revealed that his secret in winning many of his fight is that he drinks his

own urine and accompanies it with a healthy lifestyle. He drinks his own urine because he

believed that it has a lot of vitamins. It is said to be that urine only has 95% of water and 5%

solutes which means that what he said about urine having vitamins is not true and therefore urine

cannot boost his strength.

Having a healthy diet always accompanies urine drinking in giving off benefits to the

drinkers. We may start to ask if urine drinking really does make us better in terms of health. Our

interviewee said that the healthy diet is the main factor that contribute to the “healthiness” that is

felt by the drinkers because there are no scientific evidences that urine can make you strong or

healthy. It is also said by our interviewee that if drinking urine really does work, they would

surely recommend it to their patients but it is the other way around, he said that urine drinking is

not advisable because it will not cause them to be strong and healthy.


A member of British dietetic association who is Helen Andrews says that “There are no

health benefits to drinking your own urine, and in fact I think it could be quite detrimental. Each

time you put it back it will come out again even more concentrated and that is not good for

health as it could damage the gut”. People who indulge in this practice would exhibit the same

symptoms as people with impaired kidney function, as they are pretty much taking the poor

kidneys out of the equation. The kidneys keep trying to rid the body of these substances, but the

idiots keep chugging the stuff back down”. As this dietician said, urine can do no good to the

body. Therefore, urine drinkers have a high rate of having their body damaged.

Another difference between the regular urine drinkers and the normal people who does

not drink urine is that non-drinkers are not affected by any urine-related diseases because of their

abstinent. Those who do not drink urine are less prone to diseases caused by urine consumption

because they don’t drink urine. Because of one’s abstinent to the consumption of urine, they

won’t obtain any kind of disease that urine drinking can give to them; therefore, they have a

healthier body than those who drink urine because they have not consumed urine that may cause

their body to malfunction and be damaged. Also, being unable to obtain urine-related disease

those non-drinkers can be considered as more immune to these bad things than those who do

drink urine.

To sum it up, considering both has a healthy lifestyle, the difference between those who

drink urine and those who does not drink urine is that those who are non-drinkers are more

immune to urine related diseases; their body is less prone to any organ failures and body

malfunction than those who does to put it simply, non-drinkers are healthier than those who

does. Urine drinking just gives off psychological effects or placebo effects to the drinkers which

makes them think that they are strong and healthy.


Another major argument is that urine drinking is a possible placebo effect on the user. As

an example, the brain has been proven to alleviate pain, depression, anxiety, Parkinson’s disease,

inflammatory disorders and even cancer (Niemi, 2009). The brain provides positive

reinforcement in what we think will be good for us; the effect of placebo is the release of various

chemicals, a good example would be dopamine, a known pleasure chemical found in the brain.

Studies are finding that the pain relief induced by placebos may come from releasing the body’s

own chemical pain relievers or anesthetics (Haederle, 2009). This, as a result, would lead to the

negligence of pain as a result of belief. An experiment conducted by researchers, have found that

the negligence for pain is astoundingly high as long as the experimented thought the effects of

the treatment was beneficial.

In recent papers published in Science and Neuron, a team of scientists led by Falk Eippert

and Ulrike Bingel at University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany explored how

placebos activate the brain’s “descending pain control system,” which involves structures in the

brain stem. It’s a complex process that relies on opioids — naturally produced substances that

chemically resemble opium and block the transmission of pain signals.

The scientists induced the placebo effect in their 48 test subjects by falsely telling them

they were applying a cream containing lidocaine, a topical anesthetic. But some subjects also

received naloxone, a drug that blocks the effects of opioids (the rest got an inert injection of

saline solution).

Next, the scientists studied their subjects’ brains with a functional magnetic resonance

imaging scanner and asked them to subjectively rate the pain intensity.

The subjects who received naloxone (which blocked opioid activity in the dorsolateral

prefrontal cortex and midbrain structures like the rostral anterior cingulate cortex, amygdala,


hypothalamus, the periaqueductal gray and the rostral ventromedial medulla) saw markedly

lower pain relief than those who had received saline, the team reported.

“Until now it was believed that placebo was just a psychological phenomenon that has no

neurobiological basis, but that’s really not the case,” Eippert said. He noted that naloxone did not

completely erase the pain-relief effect, suggesting that placebo treatment may also engage other

less-studied brain networks.

The placebo effect is probably at work even when proven opiates are administered for

pain relief, Eippert said. Experiments have shown that patients experience some pain relief when

they are given opiates without their knowledge, which is no surprise. “However, when you give

this drug and tell the patient, the pain relief is going to be much, much stronger,” he said. “The

interesting thing is if you give naloxone at the same time, then this additional effect of telling the

patient is completely canceled. There’s a placebo component in treatment as well.”

We can safely assume that urine is a placebo. As it was elaborated further by the other

arguments, urine was found to not contain any significant amount vitamins, minerals, or proteins.

The average human urine composition is at least 95 % water, and the other 5 % are salts and

excess human nutrients or electrolytes (Lim, 2012). The consumption of urine would not in

effect be, in any way, beneficial for the user and drinking urine tends to worsen, rather than

relieve dehydration due to the salts found in urine, and that urine should not be consumed in a

survival situation, even when there is no other fluid available (Benton, 2004). Another ever-

present danger of urine consumption is bacterial infection due to the bacteria found in the urethra

The urethra contains bacteria, hence many urine therapy practitioners use mid-stream urine, in

order to allow the first few seconds of urination to wash out the bacteria within the urethra. This


is also why many physicians ask for a urine sample mid-stream (Urinary Tract Infections in

Adults, 2011).

Another argument is that the placebo effect has such amazing effects on our physiology,

even if what we consume would otherwise be a deterrent, as long as it is found positive by our

perception. As an example: A man whom his doctors referred to as “Mr. Wright” was dying from

cancer of the lymph nodes. Orange-size tumors had invaded his neck, groin, chest and abdomen,

and his doctors had exhausted all available treatments. Nevertheless, Mr. Wright was confident

that a new anticancer drug called Krebiozen would cure him, according to a 1957 report by

psychologist Bruno Klopfer of the University of California, Los Angeles, entitled “Psychological

Variables in Human Cancer.”

Mr. Wright was bedridden and fighting for each breath when he received his first

injection. But three days later he was cheerfully ambling around the unit, joking with the nurses.

Mr. Wright’s tumors had shrunk by half, and after 10 more days of treatment he was discharged

from the hospital. And yet the other patients in the hospital who had received Krebiozen showed

no improvement (Niemi, 2009).

Given these arguments, now we can safely conclude that the urine is a definite placebo

for the human body would not benefit from it in any way possible. And the arguments raised

offered that urine consumption in itself is actually a danger, rather than a boon. Urine therapy

can be disproved by our conclusive arguments, and without further scientific evidence from urine

therapy. We can just disregard it as a source of strength.


Conclusion

Urine drinking for strength gaining purposes is not possible. It is highly unlikely that you

will gain strength from drinking your own urine, because our research has clearly defined the

purpose of urine. The components of urine were proven that it does not provide a positive effect

to a human body, and worst it could be harmful. Urine has no part to play in conventional

medicines, and it only belongs to alternative medicines for it will only cause harm to the user.

People like Juan Manuel Marquez, Grace Wardell, an old woman and the people who were

shown in Jessica Soho and Rated K did not benefit from consumption of urine. There are no

noticeable differences between drinkers, and non-drinkers, with regards to strength. We can

safely assume that drinking urine is only provides a placebo effect to the user.


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