Urine

[He' s left the building]

Urine is not sterile, it is a bodily fluid and it's micro-biological content therefore depends on the health of the person producing the urine.

If you have a kidney, bladder or urinary tract infection your urine will not be sterile.

 

[Opal]

I came across this....
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Area: Biochemistry
Posted By: Lynn Bry, MD/PhD Student, Molecular Microbiology
Date: Sun Jul 21 00:07:16 1996
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If you mean purity in terms of having a solution or substance which consists of a single type of molecule or collection of 'things,' urine is not very pure. The fluid consists of a number of compounds including uric acid, urobilogens - degredation productions of bilirubin which is itself a degraded product of hemoglobin from your red blood cells, and proteins. Healthy functional kidneys produce sterile urine that is an 'ultrafiltrate' of your blood plasma. In this respect it could be referred to as a 'pure' substance, though the use of pure is not applied in a distinct chemical sense.

As to drinking urine, some people do. Mahatma Ghandi did with the belief that it purified his soul. A healthy person drinking their urine (in conjunction with quantities of water) should come to no distinct harm. However, keep in mind that the kidneys function as a means of removing toxins and wastes from the blood. Drinking them only reintroduces them into the body again, albeit via the gastrointestinal system, and not directly back into the blood.

The yellow color of urine comes from the trace amounts of urobilogens filtered by the kidneys.

I hope this answers your questions.

-L. Bry
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[Gabe]

I was always taught that in a survival situation you can do it once. IE. Pee, drink it and thats it.
The next time you pee it will be much to concentrated and thats when it can start to effect your kidneys etc.

 

[Pict]

In addition to removing toxins the kidneys also remove excess water. Therein lies the paradox. Clearly (pun intended) the very best urine to drink would that which is running free and clear while you are fully or a little over-hydrated. That urine might give you an edge but nobody in that situation would even consider collecting or drinking urine. By the time a person is so dehydrated that they consider it their urine is far more concentrated and little or no help.

I subscribe to the no urine or seawater camp though I will say that urine drinkers don't seem to die as quickly as those who drink seawater. The debate around urine is always if it contributed to survival or not while discussions of seawater seem to be about cause of death. Mac