Does drinking urine improve eyesight? Viral post debunked

Hyderabad: According to an Instagram post, Dr. Sebi drank his own urine and improved his eyesight. The post contains a video of a man, reportedly Dr. Sebi, and claims he is talking about drinking urine.

The post adds, “He also fasted from food for 29 days before drinking his own urine for 6 days, twice a day, because when your body is cleansed and you drink water your urine comes out the end not as toxic waste but as electrical water.”

In the video, the man says he fasted for a month and when his urine was “as clear as water” he decided to drink it. Days after this, his vision went dark. Five days later, he began to see again. He explains that he went blind because his body was breaking down “inflammation” and as it crossed his eyes, he lost his vision.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false and that scientific evidence says urine has no health benefits.

First of all, who is Dr. Sebi?

Alfredo Bowman, better known as Dr. Sebi, was a self-proclaimed healer and herbalist. He was self-educated, not a medical doctor, and held no Ph.D.

On the benefits of drinking urine, Healthline says, “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.”

We carefully analyzed the Healthline article but could not find any link between drinking urine and improved eyesight.

In the viral video, Dr. Sebi also claimed that he first made his urine sterile by fasting for 29 days and then consumed his crystal-clear urine. A study clearly states, “In a word, no. The myth that urine is sterile is a pervasive and lasting one.”

It further adds, “The absence of a UTI—which is caused by an overgrowth of bacteria—isn’t the same as the absence of bacteria. More recent studies have shown that urine does in fact contain bacteria that could be harmful if ingested or introduced into the bloodstream through a wound.”

Lastly, human urine consists of a number of bacteria like Escherichia coli (E. coli), Staphylococcus, Salmonella, Shigella, Bacillus, Citrobacter, Klebsiella, Proteus and Pseudomonas. Drinking urine could introduce antibiotic-resistant bacteria into your body, potentially causing an infection.

It is evident that drinking urine will neither heal your eyesight nor is it beneficial for your health.