Taking the piss.

[pr126]

Saudi authorities close down shop selling traditional camel urine drinks… after discovering the owner had been filling the bottles with his own bodily waste

Saudi authorities have closed down a shop selling traditional camel urine drinks after discovering the owner had been filling the bottles with his own bodily waste.

Health inspectors swooped on a vendor in the port city of Al Qunfudhah, in south-western Saudi Arabia, and confiscated more than 70 full bottles.

The practice of drinking camel's urine mixed with milk is believed to date back centuries while some insist it has health benefits.

The Muslim holy book contains quotes from the prophet Muhammad and it says: 'Some people of Ukl or Uraina tribes came to Medina (in Saudi Arabia) and the climate did not suit them.

'So the Prophet ordered them to go to the herd of (milk) camels and to drink their milk and urine (as medicine).

[The Skeletal Atheist]

Saudi authorities close down shop selling traditional camel urine drinks… after discovering the owner had been filling the bottles with his own bodily waste

Never trust a discount camel piss seller. Last time I went for the cheap stuff I got cow piss instead.

Eta: if you're wondering why aliens never visit: selling camel piss as a beverage is a legitimate occupation that has some sort of regulations behind it.

[Shiranu]

Okay that one is pretty damn funny.

[Baruch]

Kumis ... fermented mare's milk.  The kind from stallions isn't nearly as popular ;-)

Migrant tribes typically use every bodily fluid, particularly if you are in the desert.  Piss has too much H2O to waste ... and in early society, aside from honey, piss was about the only genuine medicine around (it is a disinfectant).  The colonists much have thought it funny if they ran across any Native Americans biting the bark off a willow tree ;-)

[SGOS]

It's been shown that camel urine can increase powers of concentration, prevent erectile dysfunction, improve liver and kidneys, and reduce anxiety.  Actually, it will strengthen your immune system against most anything if you take it daily.  Drink lots of camel urine, but avoid alcohol, which is bad for you.

[Hijiri Byakuren]

Uh...

[Baruch]

Medicine is supposed to taste bad.  That way you won't get addicted to it.

[aitm]

Kareem! Dis camel pee has not the distinct camel flavor…..are you using non-muslims camels?

[Unbeliever]

Wow - caveat emptor, indeed!

[Baruch]

Wow - caveat emptor, indeed!

Keepers of cattle or horses ... would sometimes drink blood of their livestock ... in a pinch.  Animal or human blood coagulates ... so it can serve as expedient glue.

[Unbeliever]

I heard a story about shamans making a concoction from yellow snow...

[Baruch]

Great article!

Viking berzerkers also used funny mushrooms.  And Odin was a shaman, who sacrificed one eye, and had a near death experience while hanging from the World Tree.  Don't know if the Sami shared this with the Teutons or not, or if all northern people develop such ideas.  Shamanism is big in small areas of Indonesia as well, it was found at all latitudes.