Black South Africans were thought that drinking urine actually cleanses your body from harmfulness toxicity and as well as cleanse bad energy you’ve acquired through the night.Thank you for reading this post, don’t forget to subscribe!

Infact most South Africans believe drinking urine sometimes defends them from spiritually unclean spirits

We found an article written by Corinne O’Keefe Osborn as she has her take on drinking urine. A complete comparison of cultures and traditions even worst for different reasons check it out below

Medically reviewed by Debra Rose Wilson, Ph.D., MSN, R.N., IBCLC, AHN-BC, CHT — Written by Corinne O’Keefe Osborn —

Overview

Taking a golden shower. Drinking from your own spigot. Sipping a warm cup of herbal pee.

Whatever you want to call it, the practice of drinking urine goes back millennia. Known today as urine therapy, urophagia, or urotherapy, the medicinal use of urine is still practiced in some parts of the world.

Reports dating back to ancient Rome, Greece, and Egypt suggest that urine therapy has been used to treat everything from acne to cancer. There was a time when doctors tested for diabetes in urine by taste.

Today, proponents make similarly broad-based claims about urine’s curative powers. So, should you be mixing your morning pee into your morning smoothie? Probably not.

There’s no scientific evidence to support claims that drinking urine is beneficial. On the contrary, research suggests that drinking urine can introduce bacteria, toxins, and other harmful substances into your bloodstream. It can even place undue stress on your kidneys.

Read on to learn more about the potential effects of drinking urine.

What is urine?

Urine is composed of fluid and waste products that your body doesn’t need. Your kidneys work as filters, removing excess water and cellular byproducts from the bloodstream. This waste is sent down to the bladder as urine.

Water makes up 91 to 96 percentTrusted Sourceof your urine. The rest is made from salts, ammonia, and byproducts produced during normal body processes.

Your urinary tract extends from your kidneys to your urethra. You have two kidneys, one on each side of the body. The kidneys send urine down to the bladder through two muscular tubes called ureters. When your bladder is full, nerve endings send a signal to your brain that it’s time to find a bathroom.

When you empty your bladder, urine exits the body through a small tube called the urethra. The urethra is home to some types of bacteria. Normally, these bacteria don’t cause any problems, unless they grow out of control. ResearchTrusted Sourceon urine composition, however, shows that these bacteria can contaminate urine as it exits the body.

Claimed uses

In 1945, John W. Armstrong, a British naturopath, published a popular book about the alleged curative power of drinking one’s own urine. The book, “The Water of Life: A Treatise on Urine Therapy,” claims that urine can cure allmajor illnesses. He claimed that those near death needed to eat and drink nothing but their own urine for several weeks and have urine massaged into their skin daily.

Other claims about urine therapy are anecdotal or stem from ancient texts. Claims have been made that drinking urine may treat the following conditions:

• allergies
• acne
• cancer
• heart problems
• infections
• wounds
• stuffy nose
• rash and other skin ailments
• stings

In modern-day Nigeria, some traditional communities still use urine as a home remedyTrusted Sourcefor children with seizures.

There’s no scientific evidence to support any of these claims.

Is it sterile?

In a word, no. The myth that urine is sterile is a pervasive and lasting one. Even some doctors don’t know that it’s just a myth. The mythabout urine being sterile likely dates back to a study of urinary tract infections (UTIs)conducted back in the 1950s. During this study, samples of urine that showed no signs of UTI were labeled “negative.”

However, the absence of a UTI — which is caused by an overgrowth of bacteria — isn’t the same as the absence of bacteria. More recent studiesTrusted Sourcehave shown that urine does in fact contain bacteria that could be harmful if ingested or introduced into the bloodstream through a wound.

Is it safe?

While drinking a little bit of your own urine probably won’t hurt you, it’s definitely not as safe as a glass of water.

Bacteria

Your body is home to many different colonies of healthy bacteria. Your urinary tract contains different types of bacteria. These are harmless unless they start growing out of control. When urine passes through the urinary tract, it becomes contaminated with bacteria. Drinking urine, whether your own or someone else’s, introduces bacteria into your system that can cause gastrointestinal problems or other infections.

Toxins

Urine contains waste products that have been filtered out of your bloodstream. Although they’re called toxins, these waste products aren’t exactly toxic. They are, however, highly concentrated. And your body is trying to get rid of these, because if they stay in the body, they do harm.

Drinking urine reintroduces concentrated waste products into your system. This forces the kidneys to filter them out again, causing unnecessary strain.

Medications

After prescription medications are metabolized, they’re excreted through your urine. Drinking your own urine could alter the dose of a medication you’re already taking. Drinking someone else’s urine could introduce a foreign medication into your bloodstream.

Is it hydrating?

Drinking urine isn’t usually good for you. But what if you’re stranded on a desert island? Can drinking your own urine save you from dying of dehydration?

Although it makes for a dramatic movie scene, this is just a myth. Drinking urine when you’re dying of dehydration would be about the same as drinking seawater — only yuckier.

Urine contains concentrated salts and minerals. To process salt, your kidneys require a certain amount of water. To compensate for increased salt intake, you’d have to pee out more water than you take in from urine. This would actually accelerate the dehydration process.

The U.S. Army Field Manualalso instructs soldiers not to drink their own urine in a survival situation.

The takeaway

Drinking your own urine isn’t advisable. It can introduce bacteria, toxins, and medications into your system. There’s no reason to think that drinking urine would benefit your health in any way.

There are much more effective routes for getting a high dose of vitamins and minerals. Pop a few gummy vitamins — you’ll probably prefer the taste!

As we head into the winter months, our bodies and immune systems can take a beating from the change in weather and there is a greater chance of catching a cold or getting the flu. Of course, Covid-19 remains with us too, and is likely to do so for some time. 

Banking on the chance that you will remain strong and illness-free in the face of increased exposure to viruses and bacteria at this time of year isn’t a financially viable plan, as it’s highly likely you will catch some kind of bug over the next few months. While some of us will get away with bed rest and lots of fluids, visits to a GP cost a few hundred rand – just for the consultation. Add in the medication and the common cold can become a pricey affair. For those with Covid, besides the vitamins and medication, a stay in hospital may also be required, all of which comes with a hefty price tag.

If you have a family, it’s likely that when one member gets sick, all the others do too, which can end up in multiple medical bills.

Having some form of medical insurance in place to cover those day-to-day medical expenses is advised.  With so many additional financial pressures on families these days – the price of food is going up, electricity and the cost of fuel have gone through the roof – few of us have surplus cash to pay for unexpected medical bills.

“Medical insurance is different to medical aid in that it covers day-to-day medical costs such as going to the family doctor or visiting the dentist when that toothache becomes unbearable. Unless you have a healthy rainy-day fund, having affordable medical insurance in place such as TymeHealth – a product offering from TymeBank developed in collaboration with the National HealthCare Group – will help,” says TymeBank’s Head of Sales and Service Cheslyn Jacobs.

Unexpected illnesses are not the only incidents that can occur without warning; accidents happen all the time too. This could be a burn from boiling water in the kitchen, a broken arm from falling off a bike or getting cut by a piece of unseen glass. None of these mishaps are planned and all require medical care. With medical insurance in place, any member of your family who is included in your policy can access hospital or specialist care – without having to put in another cent.

With diabetes and depression on the rise, more and more people require chronic medication, which typically costs a great deal, even the generics. Medical insurance plans like the one offered by TymeHealth and the National HealthCare Group include cover for chronic medication. “People who need this type of specialised medication shouldn’t go without it so it becomes a monthly cost that cannot be cut from the budget, even when times are tight,” says Jacobs.

He goes on to say that with TymeHealth having now entered the market, medical insurance has become far more affordable and accessible. “Becoming a TymeHealth member takes just a few minutes once you have a TymeBank account and can be done via the app or online. Members can access over 12 000 National HealthCare Group healthcare service providers located across the country. Consultations are covered once a member’s TymeHealth digital card is shown and it can be used to pay for medication too – no cash is paid over by the member.”

To find out more about TymeHealth, in partnership with the National HealthCare Group, visithttps://www.tymebank.co.za/products/tyme-health/.

At this point in time, experts have disproved many of the myths surrounding sexual orientation. 

Like the color of your eyes or the shape of your nose, orientation is a trait many are born with or grow into over time.

Maybe in high school, for example, you developed crushes on people of one gender only. In college, you found yourself attracted to people of different genders. 

Now, as an adult, you mostly date people of one gender but occasionally feel a flash of sexual attraction for people of other genders. 

Does that mean you’re confused? Can’t make up your mind? That your college attractions were just a phase? No, no, and absolutely not. 

No one can define your orientation for you, but the concept of sexual fluidity can help explain your experiences. 

So, what’re the basics?

Sexual fluidity, in short, means your sexual orientation isn’t permanently fixed.

Yes, everyone has an underlying orientation — asexual, pansexual, or heterosexual, for example. Yet there’s room for it to expand a little, based on your experiences and current situation. 

It can help to think of orientation as a spectrum that includes people of all genders. Sexually fluid people tend to experience attractions at different points along the spectrum as they go through life.

Maybe you grew up thinking you were only attracted to men, until you had a few flings with people of other genders. After a few years, you felt most attracted to men again, but you couldn’t say for certain whether that would always be the case.

These changes in how you experience romantic and sexual attraction are totally valid. 

“Fluidity is an absolutely normal aspect of sexual orientation,” explains Will Zogg, a Washington therapist who specializes in gender affirming counseling. 

“Attraction is far more complex than many people can communicate,” says Zogg. “And fluidity and the presentation of sexuality vary widely across cultures, age, access, and region.” 

He goes on to say people sometimes interpret fluidity as confusion, or betrayal of an allegiance to a specific community. 

“As a result of the stigma around fleeting same-sex attraction and consequences for that ‘betrayal,’ normal feelings of love and sex and curiosity often get swept under the rug, where the limits of Western societal norms keep them hidden,” explains Zogg.

Does it only refer to sexual orientation?

If you’re sexually fluid, you might notice most of your sexual experiences and attractions fit under the label you use to identify yourself. 

The key word here is “most,” since you’ll probably have a few outlier experiences that fall elsewhere on the spectrum.

Here’s an example:

You’ve only ever felt attracted to women. Then you develop a close relationship with a nonbinary friend. Your physical and emotional closeness eventually lead to a crush. 

You think about kissing, touching, even having sex with them. Maybe you act on those desires, maybe you don’t. Eventually, you spend a little less time together, and your attraction fades, leaving you primarily attracted to women once again.

This one experience may not lead you to redefine your sexual orientation, but it does suggest some fluidity. 

Close friendships sometimes fuel romantic feelings that lead to sexual desire, but attraction can exist without you acting on it.

Fluidity, by definition, changes over time, so you could develop a similar attraction in the future.

Though fluidity adds an extra factor in the equation of attraction, it won’t necessarily change your sexual behavior. 

Where did the term originate?

“What Westerners refer to as fluidity in sexuality (and in gender) is not a new idea for many cultures,” Zogg notes. 

Researchers and anthropologists have explored fluidity across cultures and history. In terms of Western research, this concept has had many names, including erotic plasticityTrusted Source. 

The term sexual fluidity comes from the research of psychologist and professor Dr. Lisa Diamond, who drew attention to the concept with her 2009 book, “Sexual Fluidity: Understanding Women’s Love and Desire.”

Can anyone be sexually fluid? 

In theory, yes, anyone can experience this fluidity, but not everyone does. Plenty of people only ever feel attracted to one gender. 

While people of any gender can be sexually fluid, existing research suggests women tend to experience the most fluidity. Of course, this doesn’t mean all women are sexually fluid. 

“Some sexually fluid men may feel more reluctant to talk about the range of attraction they experience, in part due to gender and sexuality stereotypes,” Zogg points out. 

“They might avoid commenting on masculine celebrities they consider attractive, for example, or hesitate to express closeness to a male best friend,” says Zogg. 

Is it OK to be more attracted to one gender than another?

Most definitely, yes. Attraction, like orientation, is something you can’t control.

You might feel more attracted to one gender for a while, then your attraction might shift elsewhere on the spectrum. 

Maybe you choose not to express or act on certain attractions, and that’s OK. All the same, you typically can’t pick and choose what part of the spectrum your attraction settles on at any given point in life.

Can you be attracted to different genders in different ways?

Sexually fluid people might notice attraction shows up in a range of ways.

You could feel sexually attracted to people of one gender but develop stronger romantic feelings for people of another gender. 

Maybe one specific person brings out feelings you’ve never had before. Though their traits don’t align with what you’d normally consider your “type,” you feel drawn to this specific excitement or arousal response.

You might also notice the characteristics that appeal to you in more masculine people are completely separate from the characteristics that you look for in more feminine people. 

What does this look like in practice?

It’s pretty common to act differently on varying types of attraction. 

You might:

• enjoy kissing and cuddling partners of one gender but only have sex with people of another gender
• enjoy a specific type of sex with one gender, but have different kinds of sex with other genders
• develop romantic attachments with people of one gender and pursue physical relationships with people of other genders

These are all valid relationship styles. Just take care to practice good communication!

What makes this different from being bisexual or pansexual?

On the surface, sexual fluidity might seem pretty similar to bisexuality and pansexuality. Remember, though, bisexuality and pansexuality are orientations, and sexual fluidity is not. 

Bisexuality doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone, but it’s typically recognized as a fairly consistent attraction to two groups: people of your gender and people of other genders. 

Some people who identify as bisexual might only feel attracted to people of two genders. Others might develop attractions to people of multiple genders. 

Pansexuality, on the other hand, means you might experience attraction to any person, regardless of their gender. In other words, you’re attracted to people of all genders. 

You can be both sexually fluid and bisexual or pansexual. For example:

• Sexually fluid pansexual people might occasionally feel most attracted to people of one gender, then more attracted to different genders again.
• Sexually fluid bisexual people might temporarily feel more attracted to one gender over another, but this won’t permanently alter their overall attraction to people of other genders. 

Learn more about bisexuality and pansexuality here. 

Why might someone opt to use this term over others?

You might describe yourself as sexually fluid when you generally identify with an orientation that doesn’t consistently represent every attraction you experience. 

Say you primarily feel attracted to women, but you’ve had a few relationships with men. You don’t identify as bisexual, but you consider yourself somewhat fluid, since you’re not exclusively attracted to women. 

Maybe you’ve never had a romantic or sexual relationship with someone of your gender. Still, straight doesn’t entirely resonate with you as an orientation because you feel open to the possibility of a non-heterosexual relationship. It just hasn’t happened yet. 

How do you know if it’s the term for you?

Generally speaking, sexually fluid people have an orientation that remains roughly stable over time.

So you might use this term if you mostly feel attracted to one gender but want to acknowledge the way your attraction and responses sometimes shift.

As Diamond and other experts have pointed out, fluidity offers a better, more accurate explanation for what people have, in the past, stereotyped and stigmatized as “confusion.” 

What happens if you no longer feel like this term fits?

As you go through life, you gain plenty of experience, both personally and from relationships with others. 

This expanding knowledge can have a pretty big impact on self-identity, including your understanding of your orientation.

As awareness of your orientation develops, you might land on a different way of describing your attractions, and that’s just fine. You’re always free to use whatever term you identify with best. 

Where can you learn more?

Interested in learning more about sexual orientations and identities? 

• Start with our guide to key terms here. 
• Check out the It Gets Better Project for a glossary of LGBTQ+ terms. 
• Visit Identiversity, a nonprofit website that provides factual, expert-informed education about gender and sexual diversity. 

There are two kinds of people in this world: people who delight in hearing birdsong first thing in the morning, and people who groan, and wish birds had a mute button.

Early birds, also called morning larks, fall into the first category. Most early risers enjoy waking up when the day is young and tend to fade quickly in the evening hours.

Night owls, on the other hand, tend to rise late and stay up late, since they find they’re most productive during the later hours of the day. 

Michelle Worley, RN, director of clinical operations at Aeroflow Sleep, explains that the term “night owl” is inspired by the actual animal. The term describes people who have more energy at night and sleep into the day, like nocturnal owls.

The term early bird, says Worley, has its origins in a 17th-century proverb. You probably know the one: The early bird gets the worm.

So, are you an early bird or a night owl? Can your preferred sleeping patterns affect your health? Read on to get the details. 

What’s an early bird?

Early birds tend to:

• go to bed early
• wake up early
• feel their best as the day begins
• have less energy in the late afternoon and evening
• have a hard time staying awake past a certain hour

As a general rule, early birds find society more accommodating than night owls do. Early risers generally have an easier time adjusting to standard daytime schedules, which can make it easier to function at workplaces that operate during the day. 

In fact, according to a 2012 research review, morning people report higher levels of positive emotions. It’s worth considering, though, that happiness and other positive emotions may come more easily when your sleep pattern allows you to easily nestle into society. 

The flip side: Pursuing and maintaining relationships and other social connections might become somewhat more difficult if you have a hard time staying awake past 8 or 9 p.m. — unless you seek out other morning larks, that is. 

What’s a night owl?

Night owls tend to: 

• stay up late
• enjoy sleeping in
• feel their best later in the day
• have more energy at night
• feel tired after waking up early
• have a hard time staying alert during the day

Being a night owl does have a few downsides. Since most of society is structured around a daytime schedule — like 9 to 5 workdays or daytime school and college classes — late risers might have a harder time holding a traditional job. Young night owls might even have trouble adjusting to a fixed school schedule. 

A 2019 studyTrusted Source suggested that night owls may face other disadvantages, too, including increased risk of mental health conditions and metabolic concerns. 

Still, while early birds might get the worms, night owls aren’t always left bereft. A preference for the evening hours isn’t always a bad thing, in other words. Plenty of artists, writers, and creative professionals find they get their best work done as the world quietly sleeps around them. 

At the end of the day, it matters most that you get the right amount of sleep to maintain good health. 

What makes someone a night owl or early bird?

Researchers from a 2020 studyTrusted Source shared that your genetics may help explain whether you favor dawn or dusk. Circadian rhythms might also play a part in determining your sleep chronotype.

Of course, chronotype doesn’t automatically translate to sleep duration, so sleeping for a longer period of time doesn’t necessarily make you a night owl. 

Experts still have plenty to learn about sleep, and that includes sleep chronotypes like morningness and eveningness.

The same 2020 studyTrusted Source above explored whether daily smartphone use could help decipher sleep chronotypes. Researchers noted a clear divide among participants who used their phones earlier or later in the day, but many participants didn’t fall into one of the two groups. 

The study authors also found: 

• evidence to suggest women seemed to prefer getting up early 
• a potential link between morningness and the personality trait conscientiousness 

The research review suggests that ambitious, highly motivated people are more likely to be active earlier in the day. Of course, your personality traits don’t necessarily cause your early rising. You could very well make a habit of rising early because that’s what society requires for success. 

A different 2020 studyTrusted Source pointed to an association between sleep chronotype and physical activity. Early risers tended to get more physical activity, while night owls tended to get less. Male night owls also spent more time sedentary. 

Study authors didn’t come to any conclusions as to whether physical activity levels can affect your chronotype, or vice versa.

Learn more about sleep chronotypes.

Recognizing your personal sleep pattern

The easiest way to figure out your sleep chronotype? Put your alarm clock away and experiment with when you naturally go to bed and wake up. 

You might find it takes several days for your body to settle into its preferred pattern. Eventually, though, you’ll notice you go to bed and wake up at around the same general time. 

• If you often don’t feel sleepy until well past midnight, you’re probably a night owl.
• If you usually find yourself yawning shortly after sunset and have trouble sleeping in (even when you want to), you’re probably a morning lark. 

A 2012 research review suggested, though, that most people probably fall somewhere between the two chronotypes. 

Can you change your sleep pattern?

According to a 2021 research review on the genes that wind our body clocks, we may eventually have more control over our sleep patterns. 

But for the moment, those interventions remain a distant dream, and no magic pill will make it easier for night owls to get out of bed in the morning. 

Worley explains that changing your sleep pattern can make for a difficult transition, one that requires both changes in your typical sleep behaviors and patience as you make the switch. 

If you want to adjust your sleep schedule, the key often lies in making changes in increments. 

A few tips to consider

• Stick to the same sleep schedule, even on weekends and days off.
• Eat regular, balanced meals.
• Try a short nap if you feel sleepy in the late afternoon.
• Talk with a doctor or sleep specialist about trying melatonin to get to bed earlier.
• Experiment with light therapy. 
• Improve your sleep hygiene.
• Recognize the ways technology can affect your sleep cycle.
• Enlist your housemates to help you stick to a sleep schedule. 

Additionally, your sleep pattern can change as you age. As you enter middle age and older adulthood, you may find yourself becoming more of an early riser. 

The bottom line

Quality sleep plays an essential role in physical and mental well-being, whether you love staying up until the wee hours of the night or thrive on early morning sunshine. 

If you can’t seem to get enough restorative sleep, a doctor or sleep specialist can offer more guidance on possible causes and help you explore options for improving your sleep. 

---

Steph Coelho is a freelance writer with chronic migraine who has a particular interest in health and wellness. When she’s not click-clacking away on her keyboard, she’s probably nose-deep in a good book.