URINE THERAPY : NATURE'S ELIXIR FOR GOOD HEALTH by Flora Peschek-Bohmer, Ph.D., and Gisela Schreiber. Translated from the German by Hans-Georg Bakker. 152 pp. Rochester, Vermont : Healing Arts Press, 1999.
After having read Martha Christy and Coen van der Kroon on Urine Therapy, I had high hopes for the present book but must confess myself disappointed. Whereas the former two writers address themselves to mature adults of average intelligence, Peschek-Bohmer's book seems intended for readers of a mental age of about ten or twelve, or infantile adults who are unamenable to reason and who need to be taken by the hand and jollied along at every step.
Her very short book, which can be read in an hour or two, breaks down into two parts. The first 50 pages are taken up with rather superficial introductory material in which the reader is given a wholly false idea of the kidneys, and in which absolutely NOTHING is said about the remarkable constituents of urine - its many hormones, vitamins, enzymes, minerals, proteins, etc., - although she finally does get around to mentioning Melatonin (a powerful natural tranquillizer) on page 147. The book also seems to me to be highly misleading on other essential matters.
Not only that, but throughout the book there are constant reminders of the need to consult a "medical professional" of one sort or another, when the whole aim of Urine Therapy is to free us from our dependence upon such people, most of whom have a proven track record of failure.
The remaining 100 pages of the book, 'Treatment and Applications,' are taken up with basic practical advice as to how we can use urine to help alleviate or cure a whole range of ailments, though in many cases, once again, not without the 'help' of those benevolent and concerned "medical professionals" who, as we know, have managed to make the curative properties of urine the best-kept secret in medical history.
Although there is a certain amount of very good advice in 'Treatment and Applications,' the hundred or so ailments have been classified in such a way - e.g., under 'Arms/Hands, Legs/Feet, Skin, Body,' etc., - as to sometimes make a specific ailment difficult to locate. I finally discovered Arthritis listed as Arthrosis under Arms/Hands on page 80. This problem could have easily been remedied by the inclusion of a simple index, but unfortunately the book lacks an index.
There are currently three other books available on Urine Therapy : Martha Christy's 'Your Own Perfect Medicine,' Coen van der Kroon's 'The Golden Fountain,' and John W. Armstrong's classic study 'The Water of Life.' I can heartily recommend any of these to mature and open-minded readers who have a bit of common sense, and who can grasp the idea that the body knows how to care for itself.
Others, who may need their hand holding, and whose fixed ideas about urine are so rigid that they need to be coaxed and jollied along, may find the Peschek-Bohmer a useful guide, but they will be left puzzled as to why urine works. A whole dimension of Urine Therapy has been totally ignored, one beautifully covered, for example, by van der Kroon, but I suppose we must be grateful for any book, no matter how superficial and misleading, which is basically positive and sets out to teach us at least something about this miraculous therapy.
