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Cow urine

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Cow urine, gomutra or gōmēz is a liquid by-product of metabolism in cows. It has a sacred role in Zoroastrianism and some forms of Hinduism.

Urophagia, the consumption of urine, was used in several ancient cultures for various health, healing, and cosmetic purposes; urine drinking is still practiced today.[1] Cow urine is used as medicine in some places of India, Myanmar, and Nigeria. While cow urine and cow dung have benefits as fertilizers, the proponents' claims about its curing diseases and cancer have no scientific backing.[2][3][4][5][6]

Usage

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Cow's urine historically used as a treatment in Indian Ayurvedic medicine. A sick man is held over a cow's hindquarters so that the cow's urine streams onto his face.

Folk medicine

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Cow urine

Some Hindus claim that cow urine has a special significance as a medicinal drink.[7][2] Among other usage, urine therapy is used for the medicinal purposes as a system of alternative medicine popularized by British naturopath John W. Armstrong in the early 20th century based on the metaphorical misreading of the Hebrew Biblical Proverb 5:15.[8][9] His widely sold book inspired the writing of Manav mootra (Gujarati: Urine therapy; 1959) by Gandhian social reformer Raojibhai Manibhai Patel, and many later works, which often reference Shivambu Kalpa, a treatise on the pharmaceutical value of urine. However, according to medical anthropologist Joseph Alter, the practices of sivambu (drinking one's own urine) and amaroli recommended by modern Indian practitioners of urine therapy are closer to the ones propounded by Armstrong than traditional ayurveda or yoga, or even the practices described in Shivambu Kalpa.[8]

According to 1971 study by NASA, the urine is an aqueous solution of greater than 95% water, urea 9.3 g/L, chloride 1.87 g/L, sodium 1.17 g/L, potassium 0.750 g/L, creatinine 0.670 g/L and other dissolved ions, inorganic and organic compounds.[10][11] The purported medicinal benefits of cow urine lack scientific substantiation and rigorous empirical evidence. Claims suggesting that cow urine can cure various ailments or possess unique therapeutic properties are not supported by robust clinical trials or research.[2][3][4][5][6]

Cow urine is also used in Myanmar and Nigeria as a folk medicine.[12][13] In Nigeria, a concoction of leaves of tobacco, garlic and lemon basil juice, rock salt and cow urine is used in an attempt to treat convulsions in children.[13] This has resulted in the death of several children from respiratory depression.[14]

As a floor cleaner

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A floor-cleaning fluid called Gaunyle is marketed by an organisation called Holy Cow Foundation.[15] Maneka Gandhi, Women and Child Development Minister, has proposed that Gaunyle be used instead of Phenyl in government offices.[16] In May 2015, Rajendra Singh Rathore, Medical and Health Minister of Rajasthan, inaugurated a ₹40 million (US$470,000) cow-urine refinery in Jalore.[17][18] The refinery was set up by Parthvimeda Gau Pharma Pvt. Ltd. which produces a floor cleaner called Gocleaner.[18]

In organic farming

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Jeevamrutha storage cans

Gomutra is used as a manure for production of rice.[19] Jeevamrutha is a fertilizer made from a mixture of cow urine, cow dung, jaggery, pulse flour and rhizosphere soil.[20]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Picturedesk (20 September 2018). "After Reaching 18 Stone, This Woman Resorted To A Traditional Native American Lifestyle Which Includes Drinking and Washing With Her Own Urine". Media Drum World. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Dean Nelson (11 February 2009). "India makes cola from cow urine". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 April 2010. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  3. ^ a b Andrew Buncombe (21 July 2010). "A cure for cancer – or just a very political animal?". The Independent. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  4. ^ a b Paliwal, Ankur (3 March 2018). "From cure in cow urine to 'superior child', pseudoscience inviting research". Business Standard India. Archived from the original on 8 October 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2019 – via Business Standard.
  5. ^ a b RAMACHANDRAN, R. (17 August 2016). "Of 'cowpathy' & its miracles". Frontline.
  6. ^ a b Prabhala, Achal; Krishnaswamy, Sudhir (16 June 2016). "Mr. Modi, Don't Patent Cow Urine". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 8 October 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  7. ^ Ben Burrows (13 January 2014). "Pictured: A very few Indian Hindu worshippers drink COW URINE to help prevent cancer". Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 6 January 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  8. ^ a b Alter, Joseph (19 September 2004). "Auto-urine Therapy". Yoga in modern India: The body between science and philosophy. Princeton University Press. pp. 181–210. ISBN 0691118744.
  9. ^ Armstrong, John W. (2011). The Water Of Life: A Treatise on Urine Therapy. Random House. ISBN 978-1446489925.
  10. ^ David F. Putnam Composition and Concentrative Properties of Human Urine. NASA Contractor Report. July 1971
  11. ^ Dan Nosowitz for Popular Science. September 5, 2013 What's in your Pee?
  12. ^ "An amazing cow's urine therapy practice in Myanmar". University of Toyama. hdl:10110/1993.
  13. ^ a b "Effects of cow urine concoction and nicotine on the nerve-muscle preparation in common African toad Bufo regularis". Biomedical Research. 16 (3): 205–211. 2005.
  14. ^ "Don't use cow urine to treat infant epilepsy, Kwara warns mothers". Premium Times. 2 February 2013. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  15. ^ "Use cow urine to clean offices, says Maneka Gandhi". The Times of India. 25 March 2015. Archived from the original on 30 March 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  16. ^ "Cow urine cleaner to replace phenyl in government offices". India Today. 9 January 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  17. ^ "Cow-urine refinery inaugurated at Jalore". Deccan Herald. 3 May 2015. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  18. ^ a b "Cow urine to be used to clean Rajasthan government hospitals". India Today. 5 May 2015. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  19. ^ "Farmer cultivates paddy with cow urine, dung". The Hindu. 13 December 2012. Archived from the original on 27 December 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  20. ^ T. Satyanarayana; Bhavdish Narain Johri; Anil Prakash (2 January 2012). Microorganisms in Sustainable Agriculture and Biotechnology. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 63. ISBN 978-94-007-2214-9. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
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