Rumours around the supposed benefits of drinking urine have been in circulations for years.

Claims that the stuff can cure minor illnesses, detox your body, and even cure cancer are not a new phenomenon. However, they have resurfaced lately due to a YouTuber named Rain Florence. Rain believes that drinking your own pee contains many health benefits because it's "the best form of vitamins and nutrients that you can possibly take in." The self-confessed "breastfeeding raw vegan hippie" says that she practices 'urine therapy' which doesn't just involving drinking pee, but smearing it on your face too. In a video where she drinks her own urine and grimaces once or twice, Rain claims that there is "almost nothing" urine therapy won't cure. She says that everything from allergies to foot funguses can be helped by the practice, and that if you're a healthier person in general, your urine will be easier to drink. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZv1P1W187k Rain has also posted two videos in which she films herself giving herself a "urine enema." The blogger describes the experience as "spiritual" and claims that it gave her a "wonderful vision where I'm being transported to the world of Patreon with all of these supporters joining." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbqDuZEyh8Q Anyway, it's probably safe to say that most people who believe in the benefits of urine drinking and urine therapy, probably don't use it in their enemas. Still though, the concept has been around for years, so is there any truth to it at all? In short, probably not. There is no scientific evidence to support that urine therapy is at all beneficial. In fact, it has recently been suggested that people should actively stay away from drinking their urine due to the amount of bacteria present in it. According to Gizmodo, urine is a secondary waste disposal mechanism, and while much of the bacteria present in urine might be good bacteria (similar to what's in your gut), many health professionals have advised that consuming the stuff isn't the greatest idea in the world. Drinking pee, whitening your teeth with it, and even using it as a remedy for a jellyfish sting have shown very few benefits. As well as this, the myth that urine therapy can cure cancer has all but been proven to be just that - a myth. Pee may have a lot of cancer antigens, and while it was once believed that consuming these again could help fight off the disease, no scientific evidence exists to support this claim. So what about drinking it just because you're thirsty? It's not uncommon to hear stories of people stranded without fresh water turning to their urine to rehydrate themselves (127 Hours, anyone?). However, experts have suggested this could make the situation even worse. Helen Andrews of the British Dietetic Association told the Independent that drinking your own pee as a hydration method could be "detrimental" to your health. She said:

"Each time you put it back it will come out again even more concentrated and that is not good for health as it could damage the gut. "If you are stranded, your body will try to conserve as much water as it can. Drinking your urine would be like drinking seawater."

So there you go. Urine therapy may be a widely known practice, promoted by YouTubers, bloggers, and even the odd celebrity, but there really isn't any strong scientific evidence to suggest that it works. (That being said, there are a good few positive reviews for urine acne treatments online, so this may be something we'll have to try out ourselves in the future.) But at the end of the day, there are plenty of other tastier things out there to pour into our bodies. We'll stick to them, thanks.