A Hindu group in India caught the attention of health experts when it claimed cow urine can be used to treat diabetes, tuberculosis and cancer. This alternative form of medicine is promoted by the members of the sect Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The urine that can reportedly treat several diseases must not come from just any ordinary cow. It must come from a virgin female cow and strictly collected before dawn. According to RSS Cow Protection Department's Om Prakash, cow urine can treat 70 to 80 incurable diseases. Mr Prakash told Reuters told Reuters that "all are curable by cow urine."

Cow urine soda

Most may find the drinking of cow urine as disgusting but the practice has a long history in India. Cow urine is believed to be therapeutic in Ayurvedic medicine, a health care tradition in India practices for 5000 years.

For people who cannot drink cow urine directly, the sect has developed a "healthy" alternative to sodas based on cow urine. Known as the Gomutra Ark, the drink is promoted with an "immense potential" to cure diseases.

Despite the group's endorsement of cow urine as a viable cure, health experts are skeptical about its health benefits. According to Dr. Donald Henstrud of the Mayo Clinic, he has not found any data supporting the assumption that cow urine or any animal urine can treat cancer.

However, the RSS may have some support from previous studies. In 2012, researchers studied the effects of the cow urine-based Gomutra Ark on rats with diabetes. The study was published in the Ancient Science of Life journal and said rats that were given cow urine had significantly lower blood glucose levels. The researchers indicated that the results of the study support the traditional use of cow urine in treating diabetes.

A more recent study in 2013 published in the International Brazilian Journal of Urology has also suggested that distilled cow urine helps in preventing kidney stones from developing in rats.

Controlling diabetes

For Jairam Singhal who has diabetes, he believes in the healing powers of cow urine. The 42-year-old diabetic has drunk it regularlt for the past 10 years. Mr Singhal apparently doesn't have any qualms about drinking urine collected from a virgin cow in a cattle shelter near his Agra home.

Mr Singhal told the Mirror his diabetes has been under control ever since he drank cow urine. He learned of the urine's therapeutic benefits from someone else. Mr Singhal said the first thing he does every morning is collect cow urine and drink it.

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