Social media claims of urine therapy benefits not backed by scientific evidence

Science Feedback has covered numerous health-related claims over the years, but the idea that drinking urine—a waste product excreted by our body—improves one’s health ranks among the strangest ones yet.

On TikTok, one can find numerous videos extolling the alleged benefits of urine therapy. Take for example this video by chiropractor Daniel Pompa (@dr.pompa), calling urine therapy a “healing secret”. Musician Kamani Tait, more often known as KT The Arch Degree (@ktthearchdegree), who has more than 120,000 followers on TikTok, also posted a video claiming that urine therapy is “a beacon of hope”.

One of the most prominent advocates of urine therapy is Troy Casey, a former model who goes by the online moniker “The Certified Health Nut”. (He also advocated for “perineum sunning”—dermatologists warned that there’s “no scientific or medical merit” to this practice and that it can increase one’s risk of skin cancer.)

Urine therapy, also known as urotherapy, auto-urine therapy or shivambu, isn’t a newly developed wellness trend. In fact, the practice can be traced back thousands to years to various civilizations, including ancient Rome and India.

At a time when modern healthcare options weren’t available, resorting to urine therapy might have made some kind of sense. That’s no longer the case, but adherents are nevertheless convinced of its benefits, occasionally citing scientific concepts to justify the practice. But just how credible are such claims?

Perceived benefits of urine therapy based on grains of truth

We found that attempts to scientifically justify drinking urine took on various forms. These sometimes drew on actual scientific research and discoveries, but also exaggerated the importance of the research or missed their limitations.

For example, in one TikTok video posted by Casey, filmmaker Jonathan Otto implied that urine therapy is beneficial and invoked stem cells in urine as one reason for the benefit. Tait also made the same claim in the caption of his TikTok video (“Its most amazing component is the urine-based stem cells”).

There is a grain of truth to this claim: urine does contain a small amount of stem cells and scientists are studying urine-derived stem cells for their therapeutic potential^[1]. Some of the advantages of urine-derived stem cells are that they can be obtained without invasive procedures and don’t come with the same ethical concerns associated with using embryonic stem cells.

This claim about urine-derived stem cells may also be fueled by popular misconceptions about stem cells being miracle cures for all diseases.

To assess the scientific credibility of this claim, Science Feedback reached out to Yuanyuan Zhang, an associate professor at the Wake Forest Institute of Regeneration Medicine, who studies urine-derived stem cells.

In an email, Zhang stated that urine-derived stem cells do “hold considerable promise for various regenerative medicine applications”, however, the idea that these stem cells could impart benefits through the oral route is highly unlikely

This is due in large part to the human digestive system, which presents a hostile environment to these stem cells.

“Stomach acid and digestive enzymes are designed to break down biological material, making it highly improbable that intact stem cells consumed through drinking urine would survive this process and be absorbed into the bloodstream in a viable state to exert therapeutic effects,” Zhang explained.

Certain chemicals and molecules in urine, some secreted by urine-derived stem cells, might have some biological effect, he said, although their potential benefits remain to be studied.

In reality, ensuring the therapeutic effectiveness of urine-derived stem cells is a lengthy and complex process.

“This typically involves collecting urine, isolating the stem cells in a laboratory setting, growing them in culture, and then introducing them directly to the site of injury or disease through methods like injection or transplantation,” he said. “This controlled approach is essential to ensure cell viability, targeted action, and therapeutic efficacy.”

He concluded:

“Currently, there is no robust and credible scientific evidence from well-designed studies to support the claim that drinking urine provides significant health benefits derived from its stem cell content. While the presence of other bioactive molecules cannot be entirely dismissed, their efficacy through oral ingestion needs thorough investigation. The existing research on [urine stem cells] involves controlled laboratory and preclinical settings, which do not validate the therapeutic benefits of oral urine consumption.”

In brief, claims like Otto’s are misleading as they strip away complexity, making viewers falsely believe that urine-derived stem cells impart health benefits simply by drinking urine.

Another scientific justification for urine therapy that we found is the alleged presence of disease-fighting substances in urine that are supposedly produced in response to disease. This was invoked in Tait’s video, in which he claimed that “Your body goes through a process, you’re diseased, you’re hurting, something’s wrong, your body […] starts making the chemicals, you have your own pharmacy […] your urine is actually going to have properties in there to help rectify the problem that you have.”

As attractive as this idea might seem, there’s currently no credible evidence to support this claim.

In some ways, this claim calls to mind the concept of antineoplastons developed by a physician named Stanislaw Burzynski. Burzynski described antineoplastons as “substances produced by the living organism that protect it against development of neoplastic growth by a nonimmunological process”. Antineoplastons, which are present in human urine and blood, are “mixtures of peptides, amino acids, and other organic substances”.

There’s currently no credible evidence supporting the use of antineoplastons against cancer. (Science Feedback wrote about antineoplastons in an earlier review.)

And still others have claimed that urine improves skin conditions because urine contains urea. This misconception is potentially linked to the use of urea in skincare products as a moisturizing ingredient, something that dermatologist Daniel Sugai addressed in this Instagram reel.

Sugai pointed out that urea in skincare products isn’t derived from urine, but is made in a lab. Urea that appears in urine, on the other hand, is a waste product from the breakdown of proteins in the body.

“Urine belongs down the drain and not on your skin,” he wrote.

Furthermore, the amount of urea in urine is less than the amount that’s present in skincare products, so it’s questionable whether the urea in urine would produce a benefit.

Dermatologist Sejal Shah told The Independent that “Urine is primarily water and there’s very little urea in it. It contains less than 5% and actual skincare products with urea contain 10 per cent or more”.

Finally, some claims about urine therapy are simply baseless. For example, Human Garage, a wellness company, claims on its website that drinking urine helps to regulate the pH (a measure of acidity and alkalinity) of the body.

But this claim doesn’t make sense given the physiology of urine production. In fact, the kidneys are among the main organs that regulate blood pH, a feat accomplished in part by excreting unwanted acids into urine:

“The renal system affects pH by reabsorbing bicarbonate and excreting fixed acids. Whether due to pathology or necessary compensation, the kidney excretes or reabsorbs these substances, which affect pH […] If bicarbonate is reabsorbed and/or acid is secreted into the urine, the pH becomes more alkaline (increases). When bicarbonate is not reabsorbed, or acid is not excreted into the urine, pH becomes more acidic (decreases).”

René Sotelo, a professor of urology at the Keck School of Medicine, said that “there is no scientific evidence showing that [urine therapy is] effective”.

“There is no proven scientific data that drinking or using urine in other ways can provide health benefits,” an article from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center states. “Although urine may contain very small amounts of vitamins and minerals, those amounts are not enough for a tangible health benefit.”

Taking on potential health risks without proven benefit

Apart from the lack of evidence to support claims of urine therapy’s benefits, the practice also comes with risks.

“Drinking urine can pose potential health risks due to the concentration of metabolic waste products and the possible presence of bacteria or other harmful substances,” Zhang cautioned.

This article from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center warned that while drinking a small amount might not produce harm, drinking larger amounts could pose problems, as repeatedly introducing waste products back into the body could “force your kidneys to work even harder or expose you to unnecessary toxins”, leading to illness.

Stories like that of mountaineer Aron Ralston and disaster survivors brought the idea of drinking urine for survival into the popular imagination, but this doesn’t mean the practice is healthy or viable in the long run.

An article from Slate on the subject reported:

“After several days of this, your urine will become highly concentrated with dangerous waste products, and drinking it can cause symptoms similar to those brought on by total kidney failure. At that point, you’re doomed either way—from dehydration on the one hand or renal meltdown on the other.”

The U.S. Army Field Manual (FM21-76) warns against drinking urine as a means of hydration.

Finally, contrary to popular belief, urine isn’t sterile, even in healthy people. Published studies have documented the presence of bacteria in the bladder. Therefore, drinking urine or applying it to the body exposes a person to the risk of infection^[2].

Conclusion

Urine therapy has been promoted on social media among wellness-related communities. However, its popularity isn’t backed by scientific evidence, and its practice exposes people to avoidable health risks. Urine contains bacteria, waste products, and other toxic substances. Repeatedly putting these back into the body, especially in large amounts, could cause illness.

References:

• 1 – Yu et al. (2024) Beyond waste: understanding urine’s potential in precision medicine. Trends in Biotechnology.
• 2 – Wolfe and Brubaker. (2016) “Sterile Urine” and the Presence of Bacteria. European Urology.