Kumar
Bollywood star, Akshay Kumar said he drinks cow urine daily, joining a growing number of Indians who believe it has medicinal benefits part of which is to protect against the coronavirus.
Kumar is a firm supporter of Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, which has appropriated millions of dollars for research into products using bovine waste to cure diseases like diabetes and cancer.
Although there is yet to be a comprehensive scientific evidence of any medicinal benefits, but several politicians from Modi’s right-wing ruling party have supported the use the dung and urine to cure coronavirus.
The 53-year-old actor was caught promoting his appearance on a show with British television adventurer, Bear Grylls, where they drink tea made from elephant dung in an Indian tiger reserve.
According to his words on a social media live chat posted Thursday, he said: “I was too excited to be worried. I have cow urine because of ayurvedic reasons every day, so that was okay.”
Many Hindus hold the belief that cows are sacred and they drink its urine for medicinal benefits.
Modi’s government created a ministry of ayurveda and yoga, with Modi suggesting in June that yoga could help create a “protective shield” against the novel coronavirus.