What Happens To The Body If You Drink Your Own Urine For Any Reason

There are many reasons why someone might drink their own urine. Some people believe drinking urine has health benefits, even though there is no scientific evidence to support these claims.

 



 

Others may drink urine out of desperation if they are stranded without water.

 

And in some cases, people with mental health issues or substance abuse problems may drink urine. But what actually happens to your body if you ingest your own urine?

 



 

Urine is Body’s Liquid Waste To understand the effects of drinking urine, we first need to…Read full Story…>>

 

know what urine is. Urine is the liquid waste excreted by the kidneys to remove toxic substances from the body. It contains water, salts, and waste products filtered out of the blood by the kidneys, such as urea, uric acid, creatinine, ammonia, and other dissolved ions. The makeup of urine can vary depending on your diet, medications, health conditions, and hydration levels.

 

Urine is Sterile But Contains Waste One myth is that urine is completely sterile. While urine is virtually free of bacteria when first excreted by the body, it can get contaminated with bacteria from the urinary tract on its way out. So fresh urine may be relatively sterile at first, but drinking it still introduces waste and other substances back into your system.

 

Risks of Drinking Urine Drinking urine poses a number of potential health risks:

 

Ingesting Waste Products When you drink urine, you are essentially re-ingesting waste products that your kidneys filtered out of your bloodstream. This includes substances like urea, uric acid, toxins, and excess salt and minerals. While the kidneys can filter out some of these again, ingesting too much waste can overload the kidneys and cause problems.

Dehydration Contrary to claims that drinking urine can help survive dehydration, it can actually make dehydration worse. That’s because urine contains less water than the amount originally filtered by the kidneys. Drinking urine leads to a net loss of body water.

Infection Because urine can pick up bacteria from the urinary tract, drinking it increases the risk of gastrointestinal and other infections, especially if urine is contaminated.

Electrolyte Imbalance Urine contains concentrated levels of salts and minerals filtered out by the kidneys. Ingesting these can disrupt the careful electrolyte balance maintained by the body and potentially lead to serious complications.

Medication Side Effects For people taking certain prescription medications, drinking urine could amplify medication side effects or lead to toxicity from ingesting concentrated levels of drugs filtered out by the kidneys.

Kidney Problems The kidneys have to work harder to filter out excess waste products, toxins, and other substances ingested from drinking urine. This added strain can potentially damage the kidneys over time, especially for anyone with existing kidney disease.

Short-Term Effects of Drinking Urine In the short term, drinking a small amount of urine is unlikely to have any immediately noticeable effects in a healthy person aside from an unpleasant taste. That’s because the kidneys can initially filter out the relatively small amount of extra waste. However, larger amounts of urine or long-term ingestion could quickly lead to problems like:

 

Nausea and vomiting from ingesting waste

Dehydration and electrolyte imbalances

Gastrointestinal distress like diarrhea

Potential infections

Long-Term Effects of Drinking Urine The long-term effects of regularly drinking urine are not well studied, since ingesting urine is an uncommon practice. However, health experts warn that over months or years it could potentially lead to serious complications, including:

 

Worsening kidney function and potential kidney failure from strain

Severe electrolyte imbalances that disrupt essential bodily functions

Urinary tract infections and other infections

Toxicity from build-up of waste products in the body

Overall, while drinking a small amount of urine is unlikely to cause acute harmful effects in a healthy person, there is no scientifically proven benefit. And sustained, long-term ingestion could potentially damage the kidneys and overall health. Medical professionals strongly advise against drinking urine except as an extreme last resort when no other drinking water is available.