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Philbird
Knowflake

Posts: 1122
From: Douglas, AZ. USA
Registered: Jun 2004

posted November 01, 2004 01:55 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Philbird     Edit/Delete Message
http://www.snakelyone.com/URINE.htm
Just something interesting I found, cool huh?

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Yin
Knowflake

Posts: 514
From:
Registered: May 2004

posted November 01, 2004 01:56 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Yin     Edit/Delete Message
Yep, I know somebody who actually practices urine therapy on herself. I believe she boils it first. Can't wait to hear Gia's take on this.

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Gia
Moderator

Posts: 856
From: California
Registered: May 2004

posted November 02, 2004 12:49 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Gia     Edit/Delete Message
Many advocates claim that urine is a panacea. There is practically nothing it won't cure. Urine is said to be effective against the flu, the common cold, broken bones, toothache, dry skin, psoriasis and all other skin problems. It is said to deter aging and is helpful with AIDS, allergies, animal and snake bites, asthma, heart disease, hypertension, burns, cancer, chemical intoxication, chicken pox, enteritis, constipation, and pneumonia. Urine is said to be effective against dysentery, edema, eczema, eye irritation, fatigue, fever, gonorrhea, gout, bloody urine, small pox, immunological disorders, infections, infertility, baldness, insomnia, jaundice, hepatitis, Kaposi's sarcoma, leprosy, lymphatic disorder, urticaria, morning sickness, hangover, obesity, papilloma virus, parasitoses, gastric ulcer, rheumatism, birth marks, stroke, congestion, lumbago, typhus, gastritis, depression, cold sore, tuberculosis, tetanus, Parkinson's disease, foot fungus, diabetes and other endocrine related diseases.

Furthermore, while it is true that some of the constituents of urine are being used and tested for their potential or actual therapeutic value, it does not follow that drinking one's urine is therapeutic. It may be discovered that one of the chemicals in human urine is effective for fighting cancer. However, drinking one's own urine is not likely going to supply enough of any cancer fighting substance to do any good. It is also true that some of the substances in urine are good for you. For example, if you are ingesting more vitamin C (a water soluble vitamin) than your body needs or can process, you will excrete it in your urine. It doesn't follow that drinking your urine is a good way to get vitamin C into your body. An orange or a tablet might be preferable. However, if you are urinating excess vitamin C, what do you think your body will do with the vitamin C you ingest with your urine? If you guessed that it would get rid of it, you guessed right. The reason your urine contains vitamins and minerals is because your body didn't need them or couldn't use them. You might as well pour water into a full glass as reuptake your excess vitamins and minerals. Even urea, which can be toxic in very high doses, occurs in such minute quantities in the average person's urine that there is very little chance of poisoning from drinking one's own urine.

Unfortunately, however, not everybody can just jump right in and start drinking their own urine without negative side effects. The Chinese Association of Urine Therapy warns that

Common symptoms include diarrhea, itch, pain, fatigue, soreness of the shoulder, fever, etc. These symptoms appear more frequently in patients suffering long term or more serious illnesses, and symptoms may repeat several times. Each episode may last 3-7 days, but sometimes it may last one month, or even worse over 6 months. It is a pity that many give up urine therapy because of such bad episode [sic]. Recovery reaction is just like the darkness before sunrise. If one persists and overcomes the difficulty, one can enjoy the eventual happiness of healthy life.

These same people advise that "All kinds of throat inflammation can be helped by gargling with urine to which a bit of saffron has been added" and "drinking one ounce of urine . . . is more beneficial to the average person than a fully staffed multi-billion dollar medical center." I was unable to find their evidence for these claims. Perhaps the evidence was produced at the First World Conference on Urine Therapy which took place in India in February 1996. Or maybe it came up in 1998 during the Second World Conference on Urine Therapy held in Germany.

religion and urine

The origin of this unusual practice seems to be certain religious rites among Hindus, where it is called amaroli in tantric religious traditions. The tantric tradition is known for flouting conventional behavior as a means of establishing the moral superiority of its practitioners. It is also possible that this practice is related to superstitions based on sympathetic magic. Since urine is emitted from the same bodily organ used in sex, perhaps it was thought that by drinking one's urine one was swallowing some sort of sexual energizer. In any case, it is unlikely that Indians some 4,000 years ago had scientific reasons for drinking their own urine.

Another rather unscientific notion which seems to be accepted by urinophiles is that urine is really blood, since it is the byproduct of blood filtering by the kidneys. It is unlikely that if you need a blood transfusion that urine will work just as well.

Another misleading claim being made by urninophiles is that amniotic fluid is nothing but urine: fetal urine. If it is good for the fetus, it should be good for all of us. Here is what urine expert Martha Christy has to say on the subject:

. . . the amniotic fluid that surrounds human infants in the womb is primarily urine. Actually, the infant "breathes in" urine-filled amniotic fluid continually, and without this fluid, the lungs don't develop. Doctors also believe that the softness of baby skin and the ability of in-utero infants to heal quickly without scarring after pre-birth surgery is due to the therapeutic properties of the urine-filled amniotic fluid.

Some of the chemicals found in amniotic fluid are not going to be found in most urine samples. It is misleading, to say the least, to claim that amniotic fluid is "primarily" urine. It would be more accurate to say that they are both primarily water. I don't know what doctors she is talking about, but most parents will tell you that when their babies came out of the womb their skin was anything but beautiful. Comparisons to wrinkly prunes are quite common. So is comparison to one's skin after being in the swimming pool for a long time. The baby's skin becomes soft only after it has been out of its liquid environment for some time. There is a reason for that, according to Kim Kelly, a naturopathic doctor and nurse from Seattle. Newborns don't produce oil from their sebaceous glands until several weeks after their birth, which is why they often appear to have dry, flaky skin. Rather than amniotic fluid contributing to soft skin, according to Kelly, babies in the womb are protected by vernix, a creamy substance that serves as a barrier between the baby and the amniotic fluid. So, unless your urine is full of vernix, using it as a skin lotion is unlikely to work as a moisturizer.

the nature of urine

What is urine? Urine is usually yellow or clear, depending upon a person's health and diet. It usually has an ammonia-like odor due to the nitrogenous wastes that make up about 5% of the fluid (the remaining 95% is water). Certain foods can affect the odor, however. For example, asparagus breaks down into several sulfur-containing compounds and imparts a putrid odor upon excretion.*

Urine is a slightly acidic fluid which carries waste from the kidneys to the outside world. The kidneys have millions of nephrons which filter toxins, waste, ingested water and mineral salts out of the bloodstream. The kidneys regulate blood acidity by excreting excessive alkaline salts when necessary. The chief constituent of the nitrogenous wastes in urine is urea, a product of protein decomposition. Urea is, among other things, a diuretic. Average adult urine production is from one to two quarts a day. The bladder, where urine is stored for discharge, holds on average about 16-20 ounces of fluid, though the average discharge is about half that amount. In addition to uric acid, ammonia and creatine, urine consists of many other waste products in minute quantities.

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 might think of 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 cannot ingest waste products in the form they had when first ingested.

For most people most of the time, one's own urine is not likely to be harmful. However, it is not likely 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 are much tastier ways to introduce healthful products into one's blood stream.

Gia


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Philbird
Knowflake

Posts: 1122
From: Douglas, AZ. USA
Registered: Jun 2004

posted November 03, 2004 03:40 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Philbird     Edit/Delete Message
Ummmm. I mean Hummmm. I do like the idea of not having to refrigerate my left overs though, but... I'm still trying to get used to the apple-cider vinegar!

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Philbird
Knowflake

Posts: 1122
From: Douglas, AZ. USA
Registered: Jun 2004

posted November 04, 2004 10:27 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Philbird     Edit/Delete Message
Well, I put the apple cider vinegar in apple cider, tastes OK. Expensive habit though!

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kboon
Knowflake

Posts: 12
From: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Registered: Oct 2004

posted November 06, 2004 01:40 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for kboon     Edit/Delete Message
Sorry, but... blech!

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Rainbow~
Knowflake

Posts: 1787
From: an enchanted cottage by the sea
Registered: Jan 2002

posted November 18, 2004 04:43 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Rainbow~     Edit/Delete Message
Wow...seems it cures about anything.....and they say "don't eat the yellow snow."

Love,
Rainbow

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26taurus
Moderator

Posts: 2735
From: the stars
Registered: Jun 2004

posted November 18, 2004 05:53 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for 26taurus     Edit/Delete Message
LOL Rainbow!

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