Now about 400 of the village of 1,600 are in the habit of drinking their own urine, and two-thirds of them are senior people, reported state television.

Du, formerly head of the Wuzhuang Village in Baqiao District of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, has been drinking his urine on a daily basis since 1990.

He has been very healthy over the years, China Central Television reported.

Du said his mother fed him his urine when he was about three years old. His mother was one of the disciples of a local Taoist group that promoted drinking urine to stay healthy in the 1930s. The group had about 800 members.

Du has also converted his wife and two sons - one a college student and the other a migrant worker - into a urine-method believer and practitioner.

His wife recalls her first conversion. "I did not support him (in drinking urine). It was so disgusting," the unidentified woman told CCTV. "The first drink tasted so bad, but after several minutes, I was able to manage it."

Du's family was not alone in the village that all family members drink urine, the report said.

Du said they follow some principles. They only drink their own urine, the amount can not be too much, they drink only the upper part of their urine that is allowed to settle after they collect it in a cup.

Du said a boy before 12 years old and a girl before 16 should avoid the urine approach as it can make the youths reach sexual maturity too early.

Du said a person should have a balanced diet to make the urine more effective in health keeping.

Xiang Baoyin, 75, a retiree from the provincial Labor and Social Security Department, said the method has cured his lung problems. He published more than 4,000 copies of a book he wrote on the urine method.

Wen Zhiyun, 90, told CCTV she has drunk urine for nearly 70 years. The woman is very healthy, and she takes care of her husband who is older than her and paralyzed.

Wang Tongchuan, 87, showed how he drinks urine before the video camera of CCTV. He remains active as farmer laborer, the report said.

There are about 10 million people drinking urine to stay healthy and treat diseases across the country, mainly in Shaanxi, Liaoning and Guangdong, CCTV said.

However, many medical experts are skeptical. Guo Baoxue, president of Tongji Hospital in Xi'an, attributes the good health of some practitioners to psychological effects.