Urophagia

Urophagia is the consumption of urine, which is the liquid by-product of blood filtration in the body. There are various reasons that humans may consume urine. Urine was used in several ancient cultures for various health, healing, and cosmetic purposes, practices which are still used by some people of these cultures today. Urine therapy is a form of alternative medicine. Thai people had been practicing Urophagia for a long time.

Other reasons for urophagia include attempting survival, if no other potable fluid is available, though numerous credible sources (including the US Army Field Manual) advise against it. Also, some people consume urine as a sexual activity, and members of at least one culture consume urine for ceremonial purposes.

Reasons for urophagia

Attempting survival

Some survival instructors and guides, including the US Army Field Manual FM 21-76 "Survival", advise against drinking urine for survival. These guides state that drinking urine tends to worsen, rather than relieve dehydration due to the salts in it and that urine should not be consumed in a survival situation, even when there is no other fluid available. However, none gives data or sources to back up these statements. Basic physiology suggests that the urine produced in the first hours or day after being cut off from fluid supplies may be a useful source of fluid. Under conditions of dehydration, the kidneys need only 0.5 L of water per 24 h to excrete the 'waste' i.e. the salts and organic material that needs to be removed from the blood. Under normal conditions a healthy adult will produce some 2 L of urine, of which 1.5 L can be considered 'free water' while the other 0.5 L is needed to remove waste. Thus theoretically, drinking one of L normal human urine is equivalent to drinking 0.75 L of water. As dehydration proceeds, urine will become more concentrated and approach the limit of 0.5 L/24h where it is no longer useful as a 'beverage.'