Fun, curious, and even startling facts and stories about the pee we make.
Will eating asparagus make your pee smell funny?
You've heard it said before. Asparagus makes your urine
smell. Is it true? In a word… Yes.
Well, it makes your urine odor a lot stronger at the
very least. Why does this happen? When you eat asparagus
the vegetable breaks down and the elements enter your
urine and exit your body in your pee. After eating
asparagus, your pee will stink pretty quickly, usually
within 30 minutes of eating the green stalks.
The really interesting thing is many people can’t physically smell the odor that asparagus causes. Actually, only about 40% of people have the genes to smell this odor! That’s why some people think you’re crazy when you tell them that asparagus will make your pee smell funny.
Can you drink urine?
While many people have claimed some beers tastes like
pee, urine is actually supposed to taste salty (due
to the trace amounts of chemicals)… we’ll just take someone
else’s word
for it about the taste of pee. As far as pee being
safe to drink… urine
is indeed sterile. Your urine is also mostly water.
So, that means it’s
safe to drink pee? It probably won’t hurt you if you your body
is strong and you are healthy. Urine does, however,
contain tiny amounts of different chemicals, which
can harm a less healthy person. It’s
not recommended to drink pee unless it’s a matter of survival.
Plus, ewww!
Recycled Urine?
As of November 2008, NASA is using a new water recycling
system to purify urine, as well as other wastewater, to create new
drinking water for the space station crew. Apparently, even with blind
taste tests, the astronauts could not tell the difference between the
purified urine and other water. They say there’s a very faint
taste of iodine, but that’s it. They’re hoping to recover
92% of the water from the crew’s urine as well as from the moisture
in the air on the space station. So, can you drink pee? No problem
when it’s recycled pee. Now, if they can just get the $154 million
urine purification machine to keep from breaking down.
Holy Cow Urine!
Gua Jal (cow water) may soon be on shelves in India. What
is Gua Jal? Why, it's bottled cow urine, of course. So,
the obvious question would be, "Why?". Well, as you may
know, Hindus regard cows as sacred, and they will not
harm them. Cow urine has been
considered by some Hindus as a way to purify the body
and treat sickness. This new cow urine drink sounds like
a way to get closer to the cows they revere. The drink
is being created by a Hindu nationalist group called
the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (or RSS). Their Cow Protection
Department is responsible for this savory souding urine
beverage. They promise it won't actually
smell like urine and will be a healthy alternative to
those toxin laiden sodas... altough that may not be comfort
enough to tempt
some people into drinking cow pee. What is perhaps more
interesting about this is the RSS is creating this drink
as another attempt to rid India of foreign influences
and promote Hindutva (or Hinduness). Gua Jal (cow water)
is meant to be an alternative to American created sodas
like Coke and Pepsi. This particular Hindu group and
some of its sub-groups work hard to remove
any foreign interest, such as sodas and even non-hindu
religions. They have even been accused of violence against
Christians and foreign businesses. So, is this urine
drink going to displace popular sodas and lure Hindus
away from evil non-hindu influences? We'll just have
to see.
Toilet Seat Up or Down
Do dirty toilet seats gross you out? Now everyone can
stand up to pee. Believe it or not, there’s product that allows
a woman to stand up and pee like a man. The She Wee
lets a woman pee standing up. It’s a plastic
funnel-like device that a woman places against her … well, you
get the idea. I guess women can be ready to pee standing
in any public restroom. Are you going to tote that
around in your purse?
So many ways to say … urine
Not many people say, “Hey, I need to urinate”, but they
do say, “Hey, I need to pee.” There are many different ways
we talk about the need to urinate. We use words and
phrases like … Pee,
Pee Pee, Pee Like a Race Horse, Pee Like a Raging Fire
Hose, Piss, Wee, Wee Wee, Have to Take a Wizz, Gotta
Tinkle, Take a Leak, Go Number One,
My Bladder is Full, My Eyes are Turning Yellow, My
Back Teeth Are Floating, Drain the Main Vein, Tap a
Kidney, Play Watersports, Drain the Lizard and,
of course, scientifically it’s known as urination, but also micturition,
voiding, and, more rarely, emiction. There are some other
phrases we use
that are not limited to just pee, such as Relieve Yourself,
Off to the Loo, Use the John,
Go Potty, Gotta Talk to a Man About a Horse.
Can your pee heal you?
Well, sometimes relieving yourself feels like it will
make everything better. Seriously, there is a question of whether or
not using urine can help your body. Urine Therapy is the process of
using urine or pee to help your body. Some people massage urine or
pee into the skin, and some people even drink pee to realize health
benefits. Some people even claim that drinking pee or rubbing pee into
the skin can help prevent cancer. More practically, pee might be used
to alleviate itching or stinging by rubbing it into the skin. Have
you ever heard that you should pee on a sea urchin or jellyfish sting?
It has been shown to help reduce the intensity of the sting. Some people
claim drinking pee can help with a sore throat…. I think I prefer
to use some Chloraseptic. Now, if you’re going to try drinking
urine, there are certain guidelines to urine therapy. First, make sure
you continue to drink water while engaging in urine therapy. You need
to be well hydrated. Urine is very salty, and you don’t want
to leave those minerals concentrated in your body. Make sure you drink
the pee in small amounts, not all at once. Also, some pee is better
for urine therapy. You should use the first pee of the morning. Also,
try not to use the beginning or the end of the stream of pee. The midstream
pee is the best for urine therapy. Now, let’s move on to less
salty subjects.
Where do you pee?
About 45% of people admit to peeing in the shower.
We guess that more people pee in the shower than are willing to admit.
Also about 45% of people admit that they pee in the ocean. Only 28%
admit that that pee in the pool. We’re sure the use of pee indicators
that change the color of the water have reduced the number of people
peeing in the pool.
How long can you hold in the pee?
Long car rides almost always elicit a cry of, “Can we find a bathroom?
I need to pee!” The general rule is, when you have to go to the
bathroom, you should go to the bathroom.
In general, the average adult bladder can hold about 16 ounces or 2 cups of liquid at maximum. Typically, you feel the need to pee when your bladders fills to about 8 ounces.
There’s a tragic incident where a woman tried to hold it too long… and died. In a recent radio contest for a Nintendo Wii, a woman actually died from Water Intoxication (water poisoning). The contest was called, “Hold your Wee for a Wii.” The idea was to see how much water a person could drink before they had to pee. The person who could drink the required amount and hold in the pee the longest would win the Wii. What the radio station did not anticipate, however is that someone could actually die from this. You can read more about this tragic event here. Water intoxication happens when electrolytes in the body get too low. This happens when you are working out too much without replenishing electrolytes but still drink large amounts of water, or it can happen when you drink massive amounts of water in a short period of time or without urinating to release excess water from the body. Most healthy adults will never experience water intoxication unless they are taking part in a water drinking contest. Infant babies are at risk due to low body mass, and it would be easy for a baby to absorb too much water in relation to its body size.
A baby’s first pee
Many people assume that a baby’s first urination happens when it
comes out of the mother’s uterus. In fact, however, a baby will
pee while still in the womb. You might be astounded
to know that the kidney of a fetus is developed well
enough by 14 weeks in the uterus, and the baby will
start peeing into the amniotic fluid at that time.
Pretty impressive considering the baby fetus is only
the size of a lemon.
A Cure for Thrush?
It’s said that when a baby has thrush, you can treat it by taking
the baby’s wet diaper and wiping it inside the baby’s mouth
on the areas with the thrush. If you are going to try
this home remedy, we recommend you avoid doing this with the diapers
that have moisture
absorbing gel. Why would this work? Well, thrush is
basically a yeast infection. The theory is that the ammonia in the baby’s
pee will kill the thrush yeast infection. Personally, we’re a little
skeptical about trying this home remedy out on our kids. It just sounds
kind of
disgusting. I guess it depends on how desperate you
are to get rid of your baby’s thrush. At least we could say it’s
an all-natural thrush remedy. Now, remember, it’s only the baby’s
pee that might help. Try to pass on the other diapers.
A New Way to Highlight
Are you tired of the same old pale yellow healthy urine
color? Do you want to add a little excitement to your pee? Try vitamin
B12. If you take high dosages of vitamin B12, you may notice that your
pee turns neon yellow.
Oh, those magic cats
Ok, this one is about cat urine, but it’s still worth mentioning.
Cat pee will glow under a black light. I guess that’s one way to
find out where the cat has peed on the carpet. Just
be warned, you may find it in places you never wanted
to know about. Now, the cat urine odor just might give
away the location even if you don't have a black light..