Is it safe to drink your own pee?

You shouldn’t drink your own (or anyone else’s) urine — let’s make that clear from the start. It’s not hygienic, and there’s zero evidence of any health benefits.

So, in this article, we’ll first explain why drinking urine is, at best, a waste of your time. Then, we’ll explore why modern social media-fueled health fads won’t die off and seem to get weirder and weirder.

First, a quick trip back in time.

There’s nothing new about drinking urine

Drinking urine, also called urophagy or urine therapy, has been around for thousands of years. There’s evidence that Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans dabbled in it.

Some scholars believe urophagy was first practiced in India, where people called urine "gold of the blood" and "elixir of long life.”

It’s still practiced today as part of Hindu folk medicine. And in parts of Nigeria, human or cow urine is used to treat seizures in children and a range of conditions in adults. 

More recently, John W. Armstrong brought urine therapy to the modern West with his 1944 book, The Water Of Life: A Treatise on Urine Therapy.

Armstrong had struggled with tuberculosis (TB) for years, and no medical interventions helped. But one day, he came across this Bible verse:

"Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well."

The verse, which is generally interpreted as a metaphor to promote monogamy, inspired him to drink his own urine. His TB was quickly cured, and he shared this “miracle” treatment with thousands of people. 

These days, people are increasingly interested in ancient wisdom and traditional medicine. It certainly is fascinating.

But just because something’s ancient — like bloodletting and leech therapy —  doesn’t mean it works. And it certainly doesn’t mean it’s safe.

The potential dangers of urophagy

You may have heard that urine is sterile. This is a myth. The purpose of urine is to remove stuff from your body that it doesn’t need. This includes bacteria, some of which can cause illness. 

Also, urine carries out waste, or toxins, that are not needed. Again, most of these are harmless, but they won’t benefit you either, your body has already tried to get rid of them once.

It’s ironic that some of the people who encourage us to drink our urine (replete with toxins) simultaneously try to sell us their “detox” supplements.

They also tell you to “trust your body” while encouraging you to consume things that your body just tried to expell.

What if you’re stuck on a desert island?

Still no. Urine contains salt, so it can actually dehydrate you further. Even the Special Air Service (SAS) Survival Handbook says you should never drink urine under any circumstance. 

The constant grind of the content mill

Why do wellness fads seem to be getting ever more extreme? Why do health influencers ignore evidence-based lifestyle measures that we know are effective in favor of unusual, dangerous, or ineffective hacks?

There are millions of potential answers to this question. But two pervasive factors can surely take some of the blame: social media algorithms and audience capture.

Algorithmic control

We all want to live happy and healthy lives, and many of us use social media to get tips and advice on how to do it — almost two-thirds of humans on Earth have a social media account.

This huge audience can be converted into cash by anyone who can successfully capture and hold our attention.

Influencers who (at least on the surface) look healthy and happy are likely to get the attention of people who don’t feel healthy or happy: We want to know their secret.

Once you’ve engaged with a wellness influencer, the algorithm pricks up its ears and starts pumping similar content your way. Now you’re trapped in a wellness influencer bubble. You’ll see endless reams of content about health hacks and diets.

Many of us find ourselves in this position without even realizing it. 

Audience capture

To make money, content creators need to keep your attention. If no one is watching, no one is buying their supplements (or whatever they’re pushing). One viral post is great, but unless you maintain attention, your brand is dying.

So, some of them get increasingly extreme: “How can I hold their attention? Surely drinking my urine will get some likes and shares?” 

This is called “audience capture.” — the influencer sees what their audience wants and continues to pump it out, regardless of whether it works.

Because feedback on social media is almost instant, this process can happen fast and shape an individual’s content in extreme ways.

Increasing weirdness

Eventually, other influencers will see the success of the urine-drinking influencer, so they’ll start drinking urine on Livestream.

This influx of urine drinkers will dilute the original urine drinker’s attention. And the cycle begins again — “What can I do to top drinking urine? I know, how about bathing in it while drinking it?”

Side note: When primates are housed in poor conditions, certain abnormal behaviors tend to appear, including urophagy. It’s tenuous to draw parallels between the constraints of modern life and animals trapped in a cage… but it’s food for thought.

What should you do?

Social media is what it is, and we can’t change it. But while scrolling, remember the financial forces that push wellness influencers onward, and take what they say with a pinch of salt. 

If something seems too good to be true, it almost certainly is. The same applies if something seems too counterintuitive to be good, like drinking your own excretions.

We know these things combined are a powerful force for good and will reduce your risk of chronic disease. They won’t give you bad breath, either.

If you’d like to learn how to eat for your body, start by trying our free quiz today.