Fully Sick

Independent Online reports that British hiker Paul Beck was stranded in the Spanish mountains for six days - and survived by drinking his own urine. As the 33-year-old waited for rescuers to find him, he resorted to urinating into a cup and drinking a few drops a day.

Last year, yachtsmen Mark Smith and Steven Freeman spent 11 days stranded in the South China Sea after their boat capsized. They put their survival down to urine.

You're probably pulling a face right now and thinking "how gross", but the fact is, some people believe that a few drops under the tongue each morning is actually good for you. Urine is highly sterile and consists of 95 percent water and five percent nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, proteins, antibodies and other beneficial ingredients.

Egyptian medical texts and Chinese and Indian documents mention the benefits of drinking one's urine, while the Aztecs used it to disinfect wounds. Aztec physicians administered urine as a drink to relieve stomach and intestine problems, and there is evidence that the ancient Romans used the bleaching power of urine as a teeth whitener.

The drinking of one's own urine has historically been credited in curing irregularity, fluid retention, abdominal pain, food allergies, exhaustion, chronic illness, hair loss, weight problems, lack of energy, jaundice, scurvy, gout, "hysterical vapours," and more.