> 21 Mar 2002 From: "David Anderson" <squtch_at_quiet-like-a- > panther.org Subject: Re: NOLS research paper on Human > Waste > Healthy urine is sterile. That > is why in survival situations it is advised that you only > drink your own > urine. I'd only heard about drinking urine anectodally. Is it actually a viable survival technique? Would urine be good for flushing out a wound? Perhaps only if the urinator was in good health, or only for wounds on the same person the urine came from? Yahoo! Movies - coverage of the 74th Academy Awards® http://movies.yahoo.com/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
>> Is it >> actually a viable survival technique? > > No. The kidneys use the urine to flush chemicals and salts out of the body. > Redrinking the urine simply forces the body to use additional water to > reexcrete the salts etc. > >> Would urine be good >> for flushing out a wound? > > No. Water fresh and salt are fine for this. Urine has no particular advantage. > >> Perhaps only if the urinator was >> in good health, or only for wounds on the same person the >> urine came from? > > Urine does not carry healthiness from one person to another. > Your own urine is unlikely to be better or worse than anyone else's. > > Basically it is not a medicine and is just as well left out of the body, just > as the bladder suggested in the first place. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Robert Livingston & Pam Martin gave some nice, clear answers to the questions. I like that, no comments there. Actually, I was composing a simular answer, but while writing it I had second thoughts that made me delete the message instead of sending it. I'd like to share these thoughts now: > > >> Is it > >> actually a viable survival technique? > > > > No. The kidneys use the urine to flush chemicals and salts out of the body. > > Redrinking the urine simply forces the body to use additional water to > > reexcrete the salts etc. True, assuming that ALL ingredients of the urine will enter the bloodstream again. I can imagine the filters in your digestion system block them, so they end up in your shit, not in your pee. If that's the case, you'd have a positive balance of water intake. I'd like to hear an physician on this one. > > > >> Would urine be good > >> for flushing out a wound? > > > > No. Water fresh and salt are fine for this. Urine has no particular advantage. > > True, if fresh or salt water is available. Urine from a healthy person is sterile, which can't be said for a lot of the water we paddle on. > >> Perhaps only if the urinator was > >> in good health, or only for wounds on the same person the > >> urine came from? > > > > Urine does not carry healthiness from one person to another. > > Your own urine is unlikely to be better or worse than anyone else's. > > Sure, it can't carry healthiness, but can it carry infections? > > Basically it is not a medicine and is just as well left out of the body, just > > as the bladder suggested in the first place. > The design of the human body is good, but not perfect, at least if you believe in evolution. Speaking for myself, I am quite sure I am not designed or evoluted to sit all week behind a computer (I am not a chair), then go out on the water in the weekend on the sea (I am not a seagull) singing negro spirituals (I am not a negro, nor a blackbird, nor spiritual) smoking (I am not a forest fire) while smiling at the sea and the sun, which are neither enemies I'd like to disarm or beautiful girls I'd like to take home with me. Since my body was not designed for this life, it is quite possible the natural processes within are not adapted to the situation and are open for some intelligent alterations. I not suggesting gene mutation here (I'll do that in my next message) but drinking urine is not out of the question. Still, it is low of my list of preferable beverages. It is possible that I shouldn't be writing messages and should go to bed instead. Niels. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> I can imagine the filters in your digestion system > block them, so they end up in your shit, not in your pee. If that's the > case, you'd have a positive balance of water intake. The bowel does not have filters for this. To my knowledge, nothing that is water-soluble is actually filtered by the bowel. > I'd like to hear an > physician on this one. I am one (though this is not my area of particular expertise). --------- Evolution is a very powerful force. If the behavior of drinking one's own urine were an effective way of conserving water, you would see the behavior routinely in animals that live in a water starved environment. Camels would suck on their urethras. You don't see this. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Interesting as this thread is, what are the chances that someone who paddles boats on, ahem, water and takes nothing more than the usual common sense equipment (bottles, filter, stove for boiling, plastic for distillation, iodine tablets, etc.) is going to be so desparately dydrated and without resources that he is going to have to contemplate the captioned question? When traveling away from water, first consult the usual survivial manuals, which contain many ingenious suggestions for getting water, but not this one. Tom Joyce *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
The only point about whether the person who is urinating is healthy is that if they don't have a urinary infection the urine is probably sterile. Urine should only be considered when there isn't any water/ saline available to take it's place, like in the desert. There isn't anything wrong with urine, except in our minds. In some places on this big ball of dirt it's used to wash the hair on the head. No problem except the smell when it's old. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dave Flory, San Jose, CA. daflory_at_pacbell.net Go Sea Kayaking!! (C)2002 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Speak softly and study Aikido, then you won't need a big stick. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
The Innuit in Greenland did it in the past. I don't think it is still done today. Heike snip> There isn't anything wrong with urine, except in our minds. In some places on this big ball of dirt it's used to wash the hair on the head. No problem except the smell when it's old. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dave Flory, San Jose, CA. daflory_at_pacbell.net Go Sea Kayaking!! (C)2002 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Speak softly and study Aikido, then you won't need a big stick. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
From: Heike_Robinson_at_lakeland.cc.oh.us > The Innuit in Greenland did it in the past. I don't think it is still done > today. > Heike Where do you get your facts to make this claim? Who would keep such a record. Oh! I know! You've been reading one of Dr. Inverbon's papers haven't you! :-) > From: David Flory > > snip> > > There isn't anything wrong with urine, except in our minds. In some > > places on this big ball of dirt it's used to wash the hair on the head. > > No problem except the smell when it's old. What places? Have you been reading Dr. Inverbon's papers, too? ;-) cheers, jackie *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Jackie is wondering where I got the information about the Innuit from: During two (kayaking)trips to Greenland, I visited several museums and read some of the information that came from the first Europeans visiting Greenland in the 1800 and beginning of the last century. They have seen it and recorded this information. If it is important for you, I could find out, who exacly wrote about the Innuit washing their hair in Urine. It was considered making their hair shiny. But it also made their huts very smelly. These Europeans complained about the odor in these small dwellings. Fresh water was not necassarely in abundance especially in winter:) Heike ----- End Included Message ----- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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