Sigh. In anti-vaxxers' unending campaign of consuming literally anything other than scientifically proven drugs to protect themselves from COVID-19, it appears we have entered the endgame. We’ve weathered the hydroxychloroquine phase, endured Ivermectin endorsements, and even survived the suggestion we should all just drink bleach.

Now though, comes the final boss. A prominent anti-vaxxer, who runs the "Vaccine Police" website, has been spreading the "benefits" of "urine therapy" for protection against COVID-19. For those blissfully unaware, urine therapy means chugging your own pee.

In a video posted to Telegram, which has since been shared on Twitter, Christopher Key explains that “God has given us everything we need” and that the “antidote” to COVID-19 is urine therapy.

Claiming that multiple published papers have finally come around to the benefits of this unorthodox therapy, Keys states that even in vaccinated individuals, urine is the solution. He neglects to mention that this so-called “research” is probably just Bear Grylls survival shows. 

He then continues, stating that the research is not quite the quality you would expect for drinking urine, as “putting together a randomized, double-blind, placebo study with this is tough”, but that we should all go “do our research”. So, let's do that. 

There is currently no scientific evidence to suggest urine therapy has beneficial effects for any cosmetic or medicinal issue. Urine, the content of which was defined by NASA in 1971, is composed of 95 percent water, with small concentrations of urea, chloride, sodium, potassium, and other dissolved ions also present.

It has long been touted by pseudoscientific bodies as a cure to pretty much everything – the Urine Therapy Association of China (which has been listed as an illegal organization) suggests urine cures cancer and even baldness, and they claim to have thousands of members all drinking from the toilet. Across the internet, you can find people encouraging you to drink from your own supply.  

Despite this, research suggests drinking urine is always a terrible idea. A study on Nigerian children found that antibiotic-resistant bacteria were present in the urine of children, which the authors believe were introduced through urine therapy as a treatment for convulsions

Urine consumption introduces a host of toxins and pathogens that your body wishes to expel – that's right, urine is not actually sterile – back into your system, particularly if you are currently on medication.

As such, unless Christopher Key has some seriously cutting-edge research that finds urine to be a miracle antidote to COVID-19, it is safe to say: please do not drink your own urine. In much the same way that you do not have dinner out of your own bin, consider that the body has expelled those substances for a reason and turn to any of the other proven protective measures against COVID-19 – get the vaccine, wear a mask, or socially distance. Plus, those methods taste a lot better.