Urine Nation: Machida’s Post-Workout Drink an Acquired Taste

Fighters are a superstitious lot. Some believe prayer is necessary for victory prior to a bout: some get uneasy unless they’ve enjoyed a good puke. And then there’s Lyoto Machida, who appears convinced that swigging his own urine is the best path toward retaining his UFC light-heavyweight title.

Machida joins other combat athletes -- Juan Manuel Marquez and Luke Cummo among the outed -- that recycle their own waste products, presumably to boost the immune system and retain nutrients lost to the urinal cake.

Because I have a PhD in common sense, I am qualified to comment. And this is it: odds are excellent that if the body is excreting vitamins and beneficial minerals, it probably doesn’t have a use for them and will allow them to enter the bladder the second, third, and fourth times around. If you want to take in more vitamins -- why not just take more vitamins?

If it’s argued that having pee breath gives off a placebo effect, well, fine. Sometimes that’s just as effective. Maybe this really is the secret of Machida’s success. Just hope he doesn’t try to bottle it.

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