EVER WONDERED what happens if you drink urine or eat insects?

Howard Bennett loves all things gross.

That's a good thing, because he is a pediatrician in Washington who sees gross things every day. A pediatrician is a doctor who takes care of kids.

Dr. Bennett has written a number of books for kids and is writing one called "The (Gross) Facts of Life." He will periodically share some of them with KidsPost.

Here's what Dr. Bennett had to say about drinking urine and eating insects:

You may not realize this, but urine is sterile. That means it is free of germs.

So if you ever get stuck in the middle of nowhere without water, there are two situations where pee could save your life.

First, if you get a cut, flushing the area with urine is the best thing you can do to keep it from getting infected. (If you're planning to get a cut on your back, make sure to get lost with a friend who can do the first aid for you.)

Second, drinking pee can prevent you from becoming dehydrated while you're waiting to be rescued or find your way back to civilization.

But given that you may never find yourself in either of those situations, it's best to remember that urine belongs in the toilet, not in your drinking cup. In other words, kids, don't try this at home!

As for eating insects, whether you know it or not, you already do!

Companies that make processed foods such as hot dogs and macaroni and cheese are required by the government to meet certain standards for food safety.

Despite these rules, a small amount of insect parts gets into our food supply every day. How? Well, it's hard to keep flies from flying, and some land at the wrong time and place and accidentally get chopped up when food is being processed.

So even though you might laugh at someone who would eat an insect on purpose -- and lots of people around the world do -- you eat them, too. Not enough to make you sick, though.

In fact, some insects, such as grasshoppers and caterpillars, are high in protein and low in both cholesterol and fat!

There's more. Your food has other gross stuff in it, too.

There can be mold, rodent hair and mammalian excreta (which is science talk for animal pee and poop!).

Sorry. We hope you weren't eating breakfast while you were reading this!