USA - It has been part of his morning routine for 20 years: after going to the toilet, Troy Casey (59) treats himself to a glass of his own urine. The former model swears by this method and advertises it on the Internet. However, doctors not only advise against it, but also warn against consuming pee.

Casey used to model for well-known brands such as Versace, but now he gives health tips on Instagram. As a self-proclaimed "Certified Health Nut", the US-American talks about sport, detoxing and nutrition in dozens of videos. One of his posts, however, revolves around a ritual that might make most people uncomfortable:

After waking up, the health guru collects his so-called middle urine, whereby you pour away the first part of the urine and only save the liquid afterwards. "Morning urine contains the most stem cells, and if you ferment it for up to three weeks, it contains hundreds of millions of stem cells," Casey is certain.

He sees his own urine as a kind of diagnostic tool. "I think it teaches us a little bit more about ourselves," he says in his video. "Urine contains stem cells, amino acids and antibodies. It's like a direct biofeedback circuit. You know what's going on with you as soon as you drink your morning urine."

He added urine drinking to his morning routine two decades ago after a breathing coach told him that he had been cured of cancer by so-called "urine looping", where you only drink your urine and a little water for a while.

Doctors and health experts don't think much of the urine trend, according to News18. New York-based doctor Michael Aziz explains that urine is full of waste products that the body is trying to eliminate.

"The kidneys are trying to get rid of the toxins," he said. "When you drink urine, you return the toxins to the body." In addition to water and salt, our urine mainly contains bacteria such as E. coli.

In people who are already suffering from an infection, drinking urine could lead to serious illness. People who have previously taken medication and then drink their urine consume excreted metabolites, which is not harmless.

"They drink urea, and that can cause problems - if it gets into the gastrointestinal tract, it can lead to poisoning," warns the New York doctor.

Even though our urine contains melatonin, which regulates sleep and mood, the risk of toxicity is still too high.

In his urine video, ex-model Casey also talks about a supposedly strong effect on skin problems. Dr. Aziz simply counters: "It will probably work, but I prefer to use a cream. I don't want to smell like urine." There are now enough creams that contain urea and can help with eczema, for example.