Urine therapy
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Urine therapy is a specialized branch of alternative medicine. Any sort of oral or external application of human urine for medicinal purposes falls into this category.
-->Promoters of urine therapy believe urine to have many curative powers. Some cultures, especially Indian, have traditionally used urine as a medicine. Urine has been prescribed in India for over 5,000 years for health benefits, as written in the Shivambu Kalpa Vidhi.
There are also accounts of drinking urine to prolong the effects of certain entheogenic experiences. Some psychoactive alkaloids are passed through the body unchanged in urine. The Koryak tribe of Siberia uses the Amanita muscaria mushroom in this way, drinking their urine during long ceremonies. They sometimes concentrate their urine by partially freezing it and ingesting the unfrozen liquid. A theory presented by R. Gordon Wasson states that the Koryak's use of this entheogen is linked to the mythological Soma. Proponents of the mushroom/soma theory believe that Soma in the Vedic rituals was in fact Amanita muscaria.
Many other cultures consider the practice to be repugnant, even to the point of being taboo.
Urine contains many vitamins, hormones and nutrients that are essential to the proper functioning of human body. However, it also contains metabolic waste by-products and small amounts of toxins such as ammonia and formaldehyde.
Critics of urine therapy note that there are no scientific studies which validate urine therapy. Urea, an ingredient in urine, may have some medical value, but urea is already an ingredient in some contemporary medicines. In recent times, the Port-a-John corporation of Utica, Michigan, USA has developed a filter to collect medically significant proteins from users of their chemical toilets. Some pharmaceuticals contain ingredients extracted from human or animal urine.
Books on the subject
- Shivambu Kalpa Vidhi, of the Damar Tantra
- Your Own Perfect Medicine by Martha M. Christy
- Golden Fountain: The Complete Guide to Urine Therapy by Coen Van Der Kroon
- Water of Life: A Treatise on Urine Therapy by John W. Armstrong
- "Rakshank" Extract of Urine Therapy: by Dr.Rakshak Mak Lodha
In fiction
- American Gods - Neil Gaiman (2001) -Brief mention
- The League of Gentlemen - Series One
See also
- Drinking urine
- Shivambu
- Urine in Medicine
- Lodha Cola
External links
- [Shirleys Wellness Cafe]
- [Urine therapy: The simple use of ones own urine]
- [Urine therapy by Martin Gardner]
- [Urine Therapy: Skeptic's Dictionary]
- [Urine therapy: Vanderbilt University]
- [Your Body's Own Medicine]
- [On Academic Reports]
- [Urine Therapy]
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