{{short description|Consumption of urine}} {{More citations needed|date=October 2025}} {{Alternative medicine sidebar |fringe}} '''Urophagia''' is the consumption of urine. Urine was consumed in several ancient cultures for various health, healing, and cosmetic purposes.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Picturedesk|date=2018-09-20|title=After Reaching 18 Stone This Woman Resorted To A Traditional Native American Lifestyle Which Includes Drinking and Washing With Her Own Urine|url=https://mediadrumworld.com/2018/09/20/32609/|access-date=2021-12-20|website=Media Drum World|language=en-GB}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable (WP:NOTRS).|date=May 2025}} People have been known to drink urine in extreme cases of water scarcity;<ref name="des">{{cite news |title=A 3rd Survivor Pulled From Collapsed Hotel |url=http://archive.deseretnews.com/archive/114813/A-3RD-SURVIVOR-PULLED-FROM-COLLAPSED-HOTEL.html |publisher=Deseret News |date=July 30, 1990 |access-date=January 8, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412155616/http://archive.deseretnews.com/archive/114813/A-3RD-SURVIVOR-PULLED-FROM-COLLAPSED-HOTEL.html |archive-date=April 12, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> however numerous sources, including the ''US Army Field Manual'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=U.S. Department of the Army |url=https://dn790002.ca.archive.org/0/items/Fm21-76SurvivalManual/FM21-76_SurvivalManual.pdf |title=FM 21-76 US Army Survival Manual |publisher=U.S. Department of the Army}}</ref> advise against it. Urine may also be consumed as a sexual activity.
Some male animals taste their female counterpart's urine to test fertility.
== Human health warnings ==
The World Health Organization has found that the pathogens contained in urine rarely pose a health risk. However, it does caution that in areas where ''Schistosoma haematobium'', a parasitic flatworm, is prevalent, it can be transmitted from person to person.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schönning |first=Caroline |title=Urine diversion – hygienic risks and microbial guidelines for reuse |url=https://sswm.info/sites/default/files/reference_attachments/SCHOENNING%20ny%20Urine%20Diversion%20Hygienic%20Risks%20and%20Microbial%20Guidelines%20for%20Reuse.pdf |access-date=2025-10-18 |website=World Health Organization |page=13}}</ref>
== Humans == {{Expand section|date=June 2025}}
=== As food === {{See also|Virgin boy egg}}
=== Emergency survival techniques === Survival guides such as the ''US Army Field Manual'', the ''SAS Survival Handbook'',<ref>{{cite book |title=The SAS Survival Handbook |first=John "Lofty" |last=Wiseman |page=42 |quote=Warning: Urine and sea-water. Never drink either – Never!}}</ref> and others<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.equipped.com/primer.htm|title=Equipped to Survive – A Survival Primer|access-date=May 26, 2016|archive-date=December 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230135005/http://www.equipped.com/primer.htm}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=September 2018}} generally advise against drinking urine for survival.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |title=Water Procurement |url=http://www.equipped.com/21-76/ch6.pdf |work=US Army Field Manual |access-date=2007-08-27 |archive-date=2009-06-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090612013729/http://www.equipped.com/21-76/ch6.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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, even when no other fluid is available.<ref name=":1" />
Aron Ralston drank urine when trapped for several days with his arm under a boulder.<ref>{{cite web |author=Mark |first=Jenkins |date=August 1, 2003 |title=Aron Ralston – Between a Rock and the Hardest Place |url=https://outsideonline.com/outside/features/200409/aron_ralston_9.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812150111/https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/exploration-survival/aron-ralston-between-rock-and-hardest-place/ |archive-date=August 12, 2021 |access-date=May 26, 2016 |work=Outside}}</ref> Survivalist television host Bear Grylls drank urine and encouraged others to do so on several episodes on his TV shows.<ref>{{•}} Thistlethwaite, Felicity (February 26, 2015). "[https://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/560690/Bear-Grylls-Mission-Survive-celebrities-vomiting Stars vomit profusely after drinking their own urine on Bear Grylls: Mission Survive]". ''Daily Express''. [https://web.archive.org/web/20210301180659/https://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/560690/Bear-Grylls-Mission-Survive-celebrities-vomiting Archived] from the original on March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
{{Bullet}}Loughrey, Clarisse (December 18, 2015). "[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/obama-refused-to-drink-his-own-urine-on-bear-grylls-a6777991.html Obama refused to drink his own urine on Bear Grylls, 'It's not something I'd make a habit of]'". ''The Independent''. [https://web.archive.org/web/20220309042836/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/obama-refused-to-drink-his-own-urine-on-bear-grylls-a6777991.html Archived] from the original on March 9, 2022. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
{{Bullet}}Singh, Anita (May 31, 2014). "[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/10867228/Bear-Grylls-Kids-please-dont-drink-your-own-urine.html Bear Grylls: Kids, please don't drink your own urine]". ''The Telegraph''. [https://web.archive.org/web/20210326220932/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/10867228/Bear-Grylls-Kids-please-dont-drink-your-own-urine.html Archived] from the original on March 26, 2021. Retrieved March 18, 2022.</ref>
=== Medicine === Historically, doctors would taste patients' urine to test for diabetes mellitus. The sweet taste of the urine in diabetics was due to the presence of glucose in urine, as seen in hyperglycaemia.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Eknoyan |first=Garabed |last2=Nagy |first2=Judit |date=April 2005 |title=A history of diabetes mellitus or how a disease of the kidneys evolved into a kidney disease |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1548559505000261 |journal=Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=223–229 |doi=10.1053/j.ackd.2005.01.002 |issn=1548-5595}}</ref>
=== Sexual activity === {{Main article|Urolagnia}}
=== Folk medicine === {{Main article|Urine therapy}} In various cultures,{{Which|date=May 2025}} alternative medicine can advocate the consumption of urine from various animals such as humans, camels, or cattle for medicinal or cosmetic purposes, but no evidence supports their use.<ref name="warnings">[https://gizmodo.com/why-you-definitely-shouldnt-drink-your-own-pee-1648474064 Why You Definitely Shouldn't Drink Your Own Pee], Gizmodo, 22 Oct 2014</ref><ref name="Indep">{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/urine-the-bodys-own-health-drink-5335496.html |title=Urine: The body's own health drink? |newspaper=The Independent |date=21 February 2006 |author=Maxine Frith |access-date=2016-09-26}}</ref>
=== Forced === People may be forced to drink urine as a form of torture or humiliation, as in the case of a Dalit boy in Jaunpur, India, who in 2023 was accused by local youths of sexually harassing a girl.<ref name="dalit">{{cite web|url=https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/up-horror-dalit-boy-thrashed-forced-to-drink-urine-eyebrows-shaved-allegedly-for-sexually-harassing-girl-in-jaunpur-video|title=UP Horror: Dalit Boy Thrashed, Forced To Drink Urine & Eyebrows Shaved Allegedly For Sexually Harassing Girl In Jaunpur; VIDEO}}</ref>{{Clarify|reason=was he made to drink it? did he make her drink it? why should we care about an isolated incident? is there historical precedent for this being a humiliation ritual?|date=May 2025}}
== Animals == {{Needs expansion|date=June 2025}}
=== Livestock === {{See also|Reuse of human excreta#Food source for livestock}}
=== Giraffes === {{Main article|Giraffe#Reproduction and parental care}}
Male giraffes will nudge a female to make her urinate, then taste the urine to assess whether the female is fertile or not.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Pratt |first1=David M. |last2=and Anderson |first2=Virginia H. |date=1985-08-01 |title=Giraffe social behaviour |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00222938500770471 |journal=Journal of Natural History |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=771–781 |doi=10.1080/00222938500770471 |bibcode=1985JNatH..19..771P |issn=0022-2933|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
=== Dogs === Some dogs sniff their urine then taste it.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fraser |first=Chelsie |date=2025-03-17 |title=5 Reasons Why Dogs Lick Pee & Vet Approved Ways to Stop It |url=https://www.dogster.com/dog-behavior/reasons-why-dogs-lick-pee |access-date=2025-07-03 |website=Dogster |language=en-US}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist|2}}
== External links == *[https://www.westword.com/news/urine-therapy-explained-by-boulders-brother-sage-10983164 Urine Therapy explained by Boulder resident Brother Sage]
*[https://www.Shivambhu.org Shivambhu, non profit organization]
Category:Alternative medicine Category:Biologically based therapies Category:Pica (disorder) Category:Sexual acts Category:Paraphilias Category:Survival skills Category:Urine