People Are Drinking Their Own Pee—But It's Not Doing What They Think It's Doing

Hey, gang. Let's real talk for a second.

Drinking pee is not good. Don't do it.

You're still not convinced? Really?

OK, well, here are the reasons why drinking urine is bad.

The prospect of drinking urine has been going through a renaissance as of late.

In one recent video, from the Viceland show Desus & Mero, a young woman demonstrates how she believes she became so pretty and successful: by collecting her dog's pee and drinking it on camera! Obviously.

She went on about the medicinal advantages of urine:

The first time I drank my dog's pee, I was depressed, I was sad, and I had really bad acne.

She also claimed her dog's wee had excess amounts of "vitamin A, vitamin E, and 'ten grams of calcium.'"

But drinking pee is, regretfully, not a new thing. Since the dawn of time, man has had an on-again, off-again relationship with the purported homeopathic uses for urine.

Of course, the beverage gained a new popularity in 1944 when John W. Armstrong published the seminal work on the subject: The Water Of Life: A Treatise On Urine Therapy (which, I assume, spent several weeks at the top of the New York Times Bestsellers List).

Using Armstrong's work as a jumping off point, urine therapy (aka urophagia) has found a host of advocates.

One prominent online proponent is Universal Healing Tao. Their website claims that:

...drinking urine is a good alternative wherever water is scarce ... If you still cannot bring yourself to drink your own urine pure, mix a dash of it into a glass of fruit juice or mix it with water and honey.

Another fan of pee drinking, All-Natural: Natural Healing Source Center consultant Martha Christy describes urine as "powerful:"

...our own urine is an enormous source of vital nutrients, vitamins, hormones, enzymes and critical antibodies.

If you don't believe this is true (which is completely understandable) just search YouTube for "drinking your own p33."

Surely there's only one? Nope.

Just two? No...

The results are woefully numerous.

But Urologist Dr. Lauren Schulz from Total Urology Care in New York City thinks it's important people know something: their pee has no real nutritional value.

There shouldn't be calcium in the urine. Same with Vitamins A or E --- they shouldn't be there unless a person, or dog, has been taking supplements. If there's high calcium or any other minerals, it crystallizes into stone formation --- and if an animal [or human] has stone formation, it usually follows infection.

Schulz says it's not especially bad for you. It's just not good for you. And it's disgusting.

Urine is waste, and waste is things our body doesn't need.

But perhaps we've spoken too soon!

Dermatologist Dr. William Kwan told The Outline that while urine has no practical medical application orally, it does contain urea, an agent that can be helpful in the treatment of "psoriasis, eczema, and dry skin" when applied topically:

Drinking the uric acid found in urine does not give any skin benefits. Urea is found in multiple skin preparations and is typically used in a cream for dry skin. It can be very helpful for thick scaly areas especially on feet, knees and elbows; but also generally for dry skin.

That having been said, urea can be produced synthetically and you absolutely never have to drink it.

If, for whatever reason, you're still not convinced, just know that the Army ranks urine as the #1 substance one should NOT drink when dehydrated.

It's going to dehydrate you and do significantly more harm than good.

Hopefully, we can be the generation that finally puts this nasty habit to rest. No more drinking pee!

Rubbing on your skin to treat eczema? Maybe.

H/T - The Outline, YouTube