Golden cure? arguments for and against urine therapy | Research News,The Indian Express
According to its supporters, urine therapy is the number one treatment for all medical ailments. Although the centuries old practice is mired in controversy, they argue, don't knock it till you try it.
When the then Indian prime minister Morarji Desai visited the United States in the summer of 1978, he had many important items on his agenda. Desai was the first non-Congress leader of Independent India and was hoping to steer away from the Soviet leaning legacy of his predecessors.
However, his trip was met with little fanfare and headlines from the time focused less on the emerging Janata Party or Desai’s attempted statesmanship and more on his sensational interview on the popular daytime show 60 Minutes. In it, Desai revealed his proclivity for a unique and often controversial practice known as urine therapy.
For nearly half an hour, Morarji Desai extolled the many virtues of consuming one’s own urine as a catchall cure for medical ailments. Once CBS aired the interview, other broadcasters rushed to follow, cementing the defining moment of Desai’s visit, and sparking what was later known as the network urine wars.
For those who may be sceptical about consuming their own waste product, Desai’s political successors have an alternate solution. As Om Prakash of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Cow Protection Department argued, 70 to 80 per cent of incurable diseases like diabetes can be treated with cow urine.
For best results, Prakash advises using only urine collected before dawn from a female virgin cow. Acknowledging that everyone may not have access to the same, the RSS even contemplated developing a urine-based soft drink called Gomutra Ark, as a healthy alternative to Western-influenced carbonated drinks.
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