The strange practice of drinking urine for health and therapeutic purposes has survived in China despite attempts by authorities to shut down relevant organizations.
The People’s Daily reports that the now-illegal China Urine Therapy Association, which encourages people to drink their own urine, is still very active and actually has thousands of followers online.
In March, the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs released a list of illegal organizations operating in China. The China Urine Therapy Association was one of several organizations called out by Chinese authorities. Since then, China has been tracking these organizations carefully to shut them down.
According to the recent People’s Daily article, more than 4,000 people are members of online chat groups for urine therapy. Affiliated with the China Urine Therapy Association, these chat groups have names like “I drink my pee for my body” and “I drink urine to cure diseases.” Countless discussions about the supposedly beneficial effects of drinking urine are held each day.
The China Urine Therapy Association was founded in 2008 by Bao Yafu, an elderly gentleman who believes in staying healthy and likes to start his day with a big glass of urine. His application to the Chinese Ministry of Health was denied because his therapies were said to lack any shred of scientific credibility, but he was able to register his organization in Hong Kong under unsubstantiated claims of legitimacy.
Bao is the head of the Wuhan branch of the China Urine Therapy Association, and he has been drinking his own urine for over two decades now. “I’ve tried many ways to cure myself … Only this elixir worked,” Bao told the Global Times during an interview in 2014. At that time, it was estimated that over 100,000 people in cities across China were drinking their urine for health reasons.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Bao told reporters, “Mine tastes like a light tea.” Bao argues that urine can cure all sorts of ailments, everything from baldness to cancer.
Zhou Zhaoyan, a senior Guangdong resident, reportedly told the Global Times that he has been drinking his urine for more than 10 years. “It tastes a little salty. At first, I wanted to puke, and I had diarrhea, then after a few days, I felt fine.” Advocates of urine drinking claim that this therapeutic approach has ties to ancient Chinese traditions, is free of negative side effects, and can improve overall health.
Despite the China Urine Therapy Association’s claims that drinking your own urine offers opportunities for a better life, doctors and other medical professionals argue that you should not drink from your own spigot.
When humans drink their own urine, they put chemicals that the body has purposely excreted back into the body. Doctors say that imbibing one’s own urine can cause uremic poisoning, damage the stomach lining, and cause a number of other problems.
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