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I have been reading a book about Urine Therapy called "The Water of Life" by John W. Armstrong. The book states that urine contains many minerals, enzymes and hormones that are necessary for the body. The book recommends drinking urine to help with many diseases. It is recommended even for physical wounds and states that urine is a natural cure for many serious diseases. I have also read that there are many medicines which use extracts from the urine. Does urine contain extra minerals needed for the body? If so, is it advisable to drink urine directly to get them?

Also, are there any active studies or research on the effectiveness of Urine therapy?

Some list of medicines which use extracts of urine (as said in above mentioned book),

  • 2-CdA for treatment of cancer
  • urokinase - heart treatment
  • metrodin
  • pergonal
  • panafil
  • Primarin
  • Aminoserve
michaelpri
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MoonMind
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    Urine for healthy persons is sterile, so no harm in drinking, but urine is just the waste of your body, if your body have decided to eject this substances from your body why would you drink it again? You'll only find minerals on your urine if your ate more than your body need, so you aren't gaining anything by drinking it again, and i never heard urine can cure any disease – Freedo Jun 19 '15 at 17:43
  • The book tells so, and many people have explained there experience with this treatment in this book and it is best seller in many languages. – MoonMind Jun 19 '15 at 17:45
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    Just because a books tells so doesn't meaning anything...this looks like a scam to me, i can write a book in many languages saying that drinking sweat cure cancer, and i can get many ignorant people to buy it, but doesn't make it true...have you researched anything about the creator of this books or you just read what he says he is? – Freedo Jun 19 '15 at 17:48
  • He wrote the book in 1940s and am reading a translation in an Indian language. I will add more details from book and edit the question accordingly. Please do a google search and know about him before saying this is a scam. I am not promoting the book but asking on the effects of drinking urine and it's curing capacity – MoonMind Jun 19 '15 at 17:51
  • I googled JW Amstrong and i couldn't find any Wikipedia page related to him, and neither any scientific paper related to him, his name doesn't appear on any serious website, i can't find if he is really a doctor at all, the only thing i see is sites that either sell/promote his book, 1940 is 75 years old, medicine advances every year even if there had any scientific evidence for this claims(which i don't think it have) could be invalidated by now, anyway i'm planning to answer this question, my intent with this comments is just to inspire you to be a little more skeptical about things – Freedo Jun 19 '15 at 17:56
  • @Freedom - Urine is not sterile, even in healthy people: Report and linked study – JohnP Jun 19 '15 at 18:01
  • @Freedom- no wikipedia page for him, please find wikipedia page for Urine therapy. – MoonMind Jun 19 '15 at 18:07
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    "it is said that urine contains many minerals, enzymes and hormones which is needed for the body." -- Ask yourself why the mammalian body would evolve so incompetently as to discard elements it needs. I don't think you can find another example of the body being so wrong and so wasteful. Frankly, the book is sheer nonsense. – Carey Gregory Jun 19 '15 at 19:04
  • @CareyGregory: Please see the edit. – MoonMind Jun 24 '15 at 17:50
  • Instead of providing us with a list of books some guys are selling, how about citing just one study published in a reputable peer-reviewed journal that shows a benefit to consuming urine. Just one. – Carey Gregory Jun 24 '15 at 18:04
  • Why can't you just believe that I am not doing any promotion but discussing about a treatment technique? Have you finished with reading the list of those books and Authors? I have already started what you have mentioned in the comment. Give me some time. – MoonMind Jun 24 '15 at 18:19
  • Urine Therapy is called alternative medicine. Alternative medicine is so called because it has not been proved to work. If it had been proved to work then it would be called just Medicine. – John Aug 10 '16 at 08:18

3 Answers3

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Your own Wikipedia page already states that "There is no scientific evidence of a therapeutic use for untreated urine" and "According to the American Cancer Society, "available scientific evidence does not support claims that urine or urea given in any form is helpful for cancer patients" "

But lets me show you more detailed evidence. First urine is nothing more than :

Urine is an aqueous solution of greater than 95% water, with the remaining constituents, in order of decreasing concentration, urea 9.3 g/L, chloride 1.87 g/L, sodium 1.17 g/L, potassium 0.750 g/L, creatinine 0.670 g/L and other dissolved ions, inorganic and organic compounds (see this nasa study)

We know that urine is not 100% sterile, but usually won't harm a healthy people if you drink it (and the urine is from a healthy person too that didn't drink any drug or poisons) but the only situation i can see it would be good to drink your own urine is if you are dehydrating to death and even that is not really recommended ( see this wonderful question on skeptics.se )

But you could think if we have potassium and other minerals in urine why not drink it? Because you can get much more by eating food and hormones are produced by your own body you don't need to drink pee to replace that, and they become urine for a good reason, see the conclusion of this study :

It is strongly suggested that alternative therapies should be non-hazardous, and therefore, inappropriate administration of remedies, such as urine therapy in pediatric health conditions should be discouraged, considering the fact that no documented scientific / clinical evidence of the beneficial effect of urine therapy in clinical had been reported, while multiple antibiotic resistant bacterial species had also been recovered from such urine.

Edit: About your medicines listed.

  • Metrodin = Wrong. Metrodin is is a man-made hormone called follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). FSH is produced in the body by the pituitary gland. May appear on urine, however in very low concentrations to justify drinking your own pee.

  • Pergonal = Wrong. Menotropins are a mixture of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) that are produced in the body by the pituitary gland. May appear on urine, however in very low concentrations to justify drinking your own pee.

  • Panafil = Wrong.It is a proteolytic enzyme derived from the fruit of carica papaya. The only possible (not 100%) way its going to end up in your urine is if you are eating the fruit.

  • 2-CdA = 2-CdA is the trade name for cladribine. Leustatin and 2-chlorodeoxyadenosine are other names for cladribine. It was extracted from urine and according to Wikipedia it was first synthesized at Brigham Young University (meaning they don't extract it from urine anymore), they do appear in urine but in too low concentrations to justify drinking your own pee.

  • Urokinase and Wikipedia page = Urokinase is a man-made product developed using a protein that occurs naturally in the kidneys. Urokinase is made from human kidney cells and albumin (part of the blood) which may contain viruses and other infectious agents. Urokinase was originally isolated from human urine, but is present in several physiological locations, such as blood stream and the extracellular matrix. Again, they do appear in urine but in too low concentrations to justify drinking your own pee.

Why drinking your own pee to get this substances is completely non-sense?

A single Banana have 450mg of potassium or 13% of our recommended intake. 2L of urine have 1500mg potassium or ~31% of recommended daily intake. But at this scale you would get 18,6g of urea, 3,74g of chloride and 2,34g of sodium too.

Now American Heart Association in 2010 chose to recommend that Americans eat less than 1,500 mg/day sodium as part of the definition of ideal cardiovascular health.. So you going 840mg above your ideal sodium consumption only with urine, long term drinking urine and a diet high in sodium will really hurt your health. (I don't think i have to cite the consequences of too much sodium right? Just google for it)

Now see the dangers of excess of Chloride note that The normal adult value for chloride is 97-107 mEq/L. and you will be consuming 3,74g to get only ~31% of your potassium intake. I didn't find a good converter online so i will let this to someone who can do this math. But just 1g/l is a lot more than 107meq/l. You only going to make your poor kidney to work much harder to handle all this chloride.

Now about urea, this study says:

There is limited information to suggest that the liver, kidney, and pituitary could be targets of urea toxicity. Under the Guidelines for Carcinogen Risk Assessment (U.S. EPA, 2005a), there is “inadequate information to assess the carcinogenic potential” of urea. Epidemiologic studies of humans chronically exposed to urea alone or urea-containing mixtures are limited.

But drinking 18,6g of urea daily surely can't be good to you. There is no scientific evidence for health benefits of drinking this. Lack of studies is not equal to no toxicity!

For hormones i think you can see why is totally no-sense, the amount of urine you would have to drink to get any considerable amount would be insane and toxic.

Freedo
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  • I agree with you on some of your points and I want to disagree on some of them. First of all wikipedia is not the ultimate reference for anything and it is just a basic info which may not have correct details. Here in this particular case, it is about a treatment and only experienced people, researchers or journals can give us correct info about it. You agree that it contains the minerals and other things, and both of us don't know how effective it could be and let's for someone for a few more days. – MoonMind Jun 19 '15 at 20:07
  • To be clear : There is zero , none , inexistent, scientific recommendations to drink your own pee for ANY reason , and drink to get minerals and hormones is completely non-sense . Your body have millions off years of evolution to no discard things it needs. You want to get minerals?? Eat food , not drink your urine – Freedo Jun 19 '15 at 20:19
  • I was checking the links for the medicines you provided. See this link for the first two ones and about Panafil- Ointment is an enzymatic healing-debriding ointment which contains papain, USP, urea, and chlorophyllin copper complex sodium, etc. So that means it contains urea and it is in human urine. Companies won't told you from where they are extracting it. For the last two ones, you agreed that they are half true. – MoonMind Jun 19 '15 at 20:20
  • There are a number of medicines listed in it but I am not going to list all of them here. Also there is detailed info about each contents of urine. If it is a waste, I don't think amazon sell it here even now. Remember the original book was written in 1940s. It is not emphasizing on drinking urine, but trying to prove the medicinal properties of urine. It also mention about treatment for physical wounds too. So I am not gonna trash it soon, just waiting for now. – MoonMind Jun 19 '15 at 20:26
  • I give up... If you want to blind believe in what a books says so do it, people do it all the time with the bible... Even if they extract anything from urine they would use like 10 liters of urine to get a small quantity of PURE substance. You won't get enough to have any clinical effect on you, please understand this. If you don't have a deficiency in hormones you don't need to get more and if you need drinking urine will help in nothing. The minerals on your urine is the excess you ate from food , so there is zero benefit in drinking again your body doesn't need it – Freedo Jun 19 '15 at 20:30
  • hoo, I am not gonna do that cruel thing to me for sure...but without reading that book accusing all is wrong- that's an injustice towards the author and his researches on the same. – MoonMind Jun 19 '15 at 20:35
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    @MoonMind After the evidence Freedom provided you're still giving credence to a book written 75 years ago which has achieved no acceptance among scientists or doctors anywhere? – Carey Gregory Jun 19 '15 at 21:56
  • There is no response for the links and details I have given about those medicine in comments which proves he is wrong in his assumption. Actually it depends on people and the book has many instances which proves that modern scientists from various part of the world has done researches on this. Definitely I don't have intention to give all those details in the book here. – MoonMind Jun 20 '15 at 06:02
  • I've added some more details, and i removed the half true part, it was giving the wrong impression that i acknowledged it could have any benefit at all, when i was saying half true, because they appear in urine, but anyway drinking it is not recommended...And anyone can write a book telling anything they want...the proofs are there if you choose to believe this crazy guy then believe. – Freedo Jun 24 '15 at 04:50
  • Edited question to add references from the book. Now I don't think all these people are crazy. – MoonMind Jun 24 '15 at 17:46
  • What you want us to say ? This book is completely non-sense and there is NONE evidence to any health benefits...what you want us to say? You seems to be looking only for answers that confirm your point of view , but you won't find this here , because a book written by a anonymous person have no relevance here. Just actual scientific and well documented studies from reputable parties. If you want to contest my answer , come with just ONE scientific study that meets the criteria i said and not things based on this scam book. – Freedo Jun 24 '15 at 18:23
  • Medical books are authored based on researches and studies. Have you read my answer with list of books from different scientists and doctors. What proof do you need more than that? As you said in the last week, I give up. – MoonMind Jun 24 '15 at 18:45
  • It does proof nothing since it's come from the same book. Like i said come with a well documented and not too old peer-reviewed study from a reputable gov or university saying that drinking urine is good for you and we will discuss. Studies and references from this book don't count. – Freedo Jun 24 '15 at 19:19
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Urine is being use as estrogen. One of the example is the animal urine (not sure in particular) but It is an ingredient that can be use for hormonal medicines like Premarin (conjugated estrogens). Conjugated estrogens treat symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes, and vaginal dryness, burning, and irritation. But I don't think that it is good to drink urine directly, as everything should be processed and examined. It is a waste from our body but small amount will not harm you. On the other side, there might be some substance that can be use for hormonal treatments. For added info, you can also check the link: True or False: It's safe to drink urine

Nae Yi Shin
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Have finished with the book 'The Water of Life' by John W. Armstrong and at the end of this translation there are references to different books wrote on Urine therapy from different authors from various part of the world. These books are examples for the researches conducted on this treatment technique.

  • The Golden Fountain - Coen Van Der Kroon(Netherlands)

  • Your Own Perfect Medicine - Martha Christy(USA)

  • Urine Therapy - Dr.Beatrice Barnett(USA)

  • Wonders of Urine Therapy - Dr. G.K. Thakkar(India)

  • Shivambu Gita - Dr.G.K Thakkar

  • Amroli - Swami Sathyanand Saraswathi(India)

  • The Urine Cure - John Rabitoch(Australia)

  • Suppressed Medical Discovery - Dr.Robert Beck(USA)

  • Urine The Holy Water - Herald W.Tietze(Germany)

I found these references towards the last pages of the book 'The Water of Life', so this is not a case of single author J.W Armstrong (he is considered as author of first book of this kind in modern medicine). There are old texts on the subject which is a 3000 years old book named 'Damar tantra shivambu kalpa vidhi' in India.

As I understood from the book, there were researches on this therapy and scientists have experimented with it and following are a few examples to the studies conducted on Urine, Urine's components and medicinal importance.

  1. Hegyeli.A; M Laughlin. J.A; and Szent-Gyorgyi.A: 'Preparation of Retine from Human Urine', 'Science Magazine', December 20, 1963, pp.1571-1572 quoted in Your Own Perfect Magazine.

  2. Davies.O; 'Youthful Uric Acid' Omni Magazine, October 1982, continuum Section.

  3. Souvenir of FNCUT, 2008, Kolhapur, page 37.

  4. Tierze W. Herald, Urine The Holy Water, p.78. Souvenir of FNCUT, 2008

Note: The answer is incomplete and needs to deal with some part of the question, will update with more details later.

MoonMind
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  • I think people are down voting this because you don't provide any links to this studies. The mere fact they appear in a written book proof nothing if you can't look in this studies. I couldn't find any of this studies on google.com and scholar.google.com. Could you add links to this studies? – Freedo Jun 25 '15 at 17:34