Ladies and gentleman, ghouls and goblins, you won’t believe this: drinking your wee is bad for you.
For whatever reason, perhaps inspired by urine-guzzling former Chief Scout Bear Grylls, it seems the public needs a reminder that drinking our own waste water is a good way to get sick.
While we’re at it, please don’t eat your own poo either.
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Bear Grylls isn’t the only celebrity to have reported drinking their own urine, and to his credit he’s always stressed that it’s only necessary in survival situations.
Some folk on TikTok also took to trying it out, but experts quickly jumped in to explain why it was a health hazard, with Dipa Kamdar, a pharmacy lecturer at Kingston University telling the Daily Star there are "major health risks" attached to it.
Urophagia, or ‘urine therapy’, has been touted by the likes of Ke$ha, boxing champion Juan Manuel Márquez, and former model Troy Casey as a health hack, and indeed it was popular in the ancient world, too.
The ancient world certainly had its merits, but data-led medicine wasn’t one of them.
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Urine, as Dr Beccy Corkill has helpfully reminded us via IFL Science, is often loaded with nasty bacteria. After all, it’s the liquid we’re flushing out of our bodies because we no longer need it, complete with various spent compounds and dietary waste that make for a potent bacterial breeding ground.
Dr Corkill cited one study that found the following bacteria in children’s urine:
- “Bacillus spp.: A disease-causing, rod-shaped bacterium.
- “Straphylococcus sp.: The bacteria behind staph infections.
- “Citrobacter spp.: Gram-negative bacteria that inhabit the gastrointestinal tract and can cause diseases in newborns and debilitated or immunocompromised patients.
- “Escherichia coli: Mainly found in the intestines; some kinds can cause illness, sometimes with diarrhea symptoms.
- “Klebsiella spp.: Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacteria that can cause pneumonia, bloodstream infections, meningitis, and wound or surgical site infections.
- “Proteus spp.: These are part of the Enterobacteriaceae family and can cause serious infections in humans.
- “Pseudomonas spp.: Gram-negative, aerobic bacteria – some species can cause opportunistic infections, especially in people with burns, cancer, and cystic fibrosis.
- “Salmonella spp.: Rod-shaped, Gram-negative bacteria that can cause fever, diarrhea, and stomach cramps.
- “Shigella spp.: Gram-negative bacteria that can cause diarrhea upon ingestion.”
Delightful stuff. She also noted: “Some of these strains found were even antibiotic-resistant. Drinking urine could reintroduce them back into the body, which could be an issue for some people, especially people with weak immune systems.”
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So why do it?
It tends to come down to urban legends and folklore that suggest we’re flushing out potentially useful stuff. The thing is, our bodies have already figured out whether the stuff in urine is worth keeping and decided it ought to be flushed out.
“Urine exists mainly to remove things the body does not need,” explains Dr Corkill. “This may also include some vitamins and other minerals. For people who practice urine drinking, some think that instead of this being wasted, they are in fact recycling the ‘good stuff’.
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“Some people believe that drinking urine can help prevent allergic reactions. Supposedly, the antibodies found in the urine can make the immune system stronger.”
As Dr Corkill stresses, ‘the science does not agree’.
Rachael Davis