Urine's main constituents are water and urea; the latter of which has some well-known commercial and other uses. Urine also contains small quantities of thousands of compounds, hormones and metabolites,[5][17] including corticosteroids.[18] There is no scientific evidence of a therapeutic use for urine.[1][2][3][4][5]
It has been claimed that urine is similar to other body fluids, like amniotic fluid or even blood, but these claims have no scientific basis.[4]
Urinating on jellyfish stings is a common folk remedy, but has no beneficial effect and may be counterproductive, as it can activate nematocysts remaining at the site of the sting.
People who use Amanita muscaria as an intoxicating drug will sometimes drink their own urine in order to prolong its effects, especially when there were shortages of the fungus.[19]
Urine does contain substances that are beneficial, such as Vitamin C; however, these substances have been excreted because they could not be used or because they were present in excess, so re-taking them will just result in re-excretion.[4]
The most obvious physiological effect of drinking urine, at least when it is taken on an empty stomach, is bowel movement (sometimes in the form of diarrhea) due to the laxative action of hypertonic solution of urea.