Urophagia

Urophagia is the consumption of urine.

Medical

A healthy individual's urine is sterile while it is still in the bladder. There are no known side effects to consuming the urine of another person, in fact many cultures consider it to have medicinal effects.

Survival

It has been suggested that when a person is in desert survival or surrounded by salt water and devoid of drinking water that the person must resort to drinking his own urine if it is the only liquid available. This technique has been said to extend life from one to two extra days.

Contrary to that notion is that drinking urine may actually increase the speed of dehydration because of certain bodily toxins and salinity in the urine.

Aron Ralston claims to have used the technique when trapped for several days with his arm under a boulder.

Culinary

In medieval Britain, children's urine was used as colouring agent in jellies. Specifically, it was used to make green jelly.

Alternative medicine/Practices

main article is Urine Therapy

In countries such as India, Thailand and China, it is considered normal by some groups to drink your own urine for health and cosmetic purposes. This health branch of drinking urine is considered to be labeled as Urine therapy. Also, an old method of teeth-whitening during the Renaissance involved the consumption of urine, though it needn't be, and wasn't always necessarily, that of the user.

Morarji Desai, former Prime Minister of India (1977-1979), practiced urine drinking.

Ceremonial

Koryak people of Siberia drink urine in conjunction with their ceremonial use of the psychoactive Amanita muscaria mushroom. The active alkaloids are unchanged as they pass through the human body, allowing the urine to prolong the intoxicating effects of the mushroom.

Some Hindus use cow urine as an ingredient of a ritual libation.

References

Urine Therapy: Skeptic's Dictionary^*

"Rakshank" written by Dr Rakshak Mal Lodha. Email:- rakshakmal@yahoo.com