Take Cow Urine Or Leave? Go By What You Believe
This comprehensive essay on cow urine is being serialized on this website. While the first two parts (here and here) dealt with the traditional usage of cow urine in alternative systems of medicine, particularly Ayurveda, and the extent of misinformation around it, the 3rd part dwelt upon the commercialization of cow urine and claims that are dished out as scientific evidences in favour of cow urine.
COW URINE: AN ELIXIR OR A LIQUID FIT FOR THE DRAIN? - Part IV
Take Cow Urine Or Leave? Go By What You Believe.
Manoj Pandey
In this fourth and final part of the essay on the health benefits of cow urine, we will examine the research findings on the subject.
Without summing up the discussion and offering takeaways from it, the exercise would be futile. So, the essay will conclude with key inferences and takeaways regarding the use of cow urine as a medicine.
RESEARCH FINDINGS
(If you have reached this part of the series, kindly have a look at part III (Link given above and also at the end of the article), in which quality issues pertaining to research on cow urine are discussed.)
Let us have a look at the major health claims relating to cow urine and their scientific examination:
1. Cow urine has antimicrobial properties
In the research literature, it has been reported that the antimicrobial activity of cow urine is comparable with standard medicines, sometimes even stronger.
Cow urine is found to be effective against bacteria, especially gram-positive strains, and its effectiveness is reported to be comparable to chemicals such as ofloxacin, cefpodoxime, and gentamycin. Moreover, it is found to be potent against some multi-drug resistant strains of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria.
In a recent study, cow urine distillate was found to have broad-spectrum antibacterial properties (that is, it acts against a wide range of bacteria).
In some studies, the urine of other animals, especially buffalo, has been found to possess antibacterial properties similar to those of cow urine.
In at least one study, antifungal activity of cow urine has been found comparable to amphotericin B - an antifungal medication that fights infections caused by fungus.
In some studies, fresh cow urine was found to be better as compared to old urine and distillate. Its chemical constituents (including many reactive organic compounds) were found responsible for its antimicrobial functions. At the same time, it was found that when cow urine was kept for long, its acidity increased and many new chemicals formed, which provided it with antimicrobial potential against another set of pathogens.
Animal studies have also shown cow urine to be antiseptic. A research study found it to be as effective as a standard ointment for wound healing.
2. Cow urine boosts immunity
It has been reported in the research literature that cow urine improves the functioning of disease-fighting cells as well as the production and activation of antibodies, thus improving the overall capacity of the body to fight diseases.
3. Cow urine is effective against cancers
In some studies, cow urine has been found to have antioxidant properties. This and the property to repair damaged DNA are supposed to inhibit the generation and growth of cancer cells.
In a study on mice, when the tumour was induced in living tissues and cow urine was applied, a reduction in tumour formation was noted as compared to the untreated mice.
In a human study in India, the severity of cancer symptoms was observed to be reduced with long use of cow urine.
4. Cow urine acts as a bio-enhancer for other drug molecules
Research has shown that cow urine has properties that improve the bioavailability of a number of medicine molecules. It is seen to improve the efficacy of antibiotics by a significant degree. It is argued that at least in some cases, cow urine facilitates the absorption of medicines across the cell membrane.
By altering the bioactivity of certain chemicals and metals, cow urine also acts as a chemo-protector (that is, it protects against harmful chemicals).
The bioenhancer and chemoprotective properties of cow urine seem to have been discovered by Ayurvedic scholars, who use cow urine in many formulations for its role as the carrier of the main medicine. On the other hand, it is also used to moderate the effects of dhatura, guggul, aconite, iron, and silver when these substances are included in a medicinal formulation.
5. According to Ayurveda and traditional medicine, cow urine is effective against many diseases
Among the Ayurvedic texts quoted, Atharvaveda, Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, Ashtanga Sangrah, Vagbhatt, and Bhava Prakash Nighantu have appeared in many research papers. According to them, cow urine is effective against a range of diseases and disorders including those of the digestive, excretory, circulatory, and reproductive systems.
Cow urine is supposed to improve memory and cure brain diseases such as epilepsy. Its wound-healing property is widely known in traditional medicine.
Some texts have credited cow urine with the quality to correct tridosha imbalances in the body, especially to pacify vata and kapha doshas. It, thus, helps in maintaining good overall health. Cow urine and its ark are prescribed for jaundice, indigestion, stomach ache, diarrhoea, worm infestation, cough, oedema, anaemia, haemorrhoids, leukoderma, and skin diseases.
Let us also keep the following in mind when we discuss the health benefits of products obtained from the cow. In the olden days, cattle grazed in natural grasslands and consumed medicinal herbs too. Their food had plenty of cellulose and chlorophyll, together with bioactive plant chemicals. It is not illogical to argue that such natural food and the cow’s peculiar digestive system would impart many medicinal properties to the cow urine. In addition, the gut bacteria of such cows might produce many healthful chemicals (as happens in the case of humans even with an unnatural diet), some of which would leech to the urine.
On the contrary, in today’s world, cows in modern dairies are reared for beef or treated as milk-producing machines. They are products of hybridization between breeds known for high beef/ milk yield. They are fed with high protein feed, which sometimes includes animal protein too; routinely given chemical substances; and are often injected with antibiotics and hormones.
Cows reared by poor farmers, small dairies and gaushalas, and stray cows are poorly fed, reared in unhygienic conditions, and are usually unhealthy. The urine obtained from such cows is bound to have harmful chemicals. Indeed, in some cow samples, many harmful bacteria and chemicals have been found in lab tests.
It is likely that properly maintained normal (desi) cows, even if they are not given a natural diet as in ancient times, produce urine containing useful substances due to their inherent physiology. At least some modern research points to that.
6. Consumption of cow urine is not recommended
In at least two studies, it was found that different breeds of cows contained a range of harmful bacteria. In one of them, 14 bacteria were found, including E. coli, a common bacterium responsible for diarrhoea.
It has also been argued that giving therapeutic value to the constituents of cow urine is erroneous because some of the supposedly useful chemicals are found in very low quantities to be of any value. This includes minerals as well as organic molecules. It is argued that most of these ‘useful’ substances are found in higher quantities and better quality in many other sources (for example, vegetables and fruits) and, therefore, it is better to consume those eatables rather than cow urine.
In a comprehensive study involving urine of many cow brands, commercially available cow urine distillates, and urine of other animals, it was found that all of them had a large range of good and bad bacteria. Many samples taken from the market (urine or its distillate being sold in bottles) were found to contain pathogenic bacteria due to unhygienic handling of the urine. The tall claims made by the producers of cow urine-based surface disinfectants and photo-activated cow urine about their effectiveness against bacteria were not found true. While cow urine and its distillate were found to have antibacterial properties, these substances were found harmful for good bacteria present in the human gut.
This study also found buffalo urine to be more effective against many harmful bacteria as compared to urine from other animals. Cow urine and its distillate were not found effective against drug-resistant bacteria.
THE FINAL TAKE
In this discussion, I have tried to present different shades of facts and opinions on the use of cow urine as medicine.
References to Ayurveda and traditional medicine systems are limited to their being quoted by researchers and others.
Based on the scientific literature available, the following inferences can be drawn.
The discussion above and inferences given below are not meant to support or counter anyone’s religious beliefs regarding the cow and the products obtained from it.
1. Cow urine contains some bioactive chemicals and minerals with therapeutic properties. However, many of these are present in insignificant quantities, and some are lost during the processing of cow urine. Some new chemicals evolve when cow urine is preserved or distilled, which also have beneficial properties.
2. It appears that a cow’s breed, feed, and many other factors affect the quality and quantity of useful chemicals and bioactive molecules in its urine.
3. The useful chemicals present in cow urine are also present in many other food sources, sometimes in greater quantities and better forms.
4. Cow urine has been used in Ayurveda and some other traditional medicine systems to cure several ailments. Many of these are validated by experience and common observation.
5. On the other hand, many health-related claims of cow urine seen on the media and social media are exaggerated, unconfirmed, fake, and even mischievous.
6. Many sellers of cow urine and its products make exaggerated claims and sell the products at exorbitant prices.
7. It is not likely that all cow urine and its products sold in the market adhere to food safety standards.
8. Scientific research on cow urine and its products is often of a poor standard.
9. Despite anecdotal evidence and its use in traditional medicine systems, it is difficult for the mainstream medicinal system to recommend cow urine as a medicine, mainly due to the absence of convincing research.
10. If not properly handled, cow urine is prone to contamination with disease-causing microbes.
In a nutshell, if you have been using cow urine in whatever form and have experienced health benefits from it, consider the hygiene and safety aspects mentioned here. Do not get swayed by the exaggerated claims made by producers and sellers, and the magical claims that appear in the media and social media. Do not take the research available on the web or social media at face value, as it is often inconclusive and lacks high standards.
If you have not been using cow urine or its products, you can look at other natural and man-made materials that have health benefits similar to or better than those attributed to cow urine.
If you tend to outrightly reject traditional medicine, especially an animal’s urine, as pseudoscientific, kindly look at it with an open mind. The scientific logic and evidence do not support the consumption of cow urine; as such, it is difficult for the allopathic system of medicine to approve of it.
However, has mainstream medical science not erred in calling many traditional medicines a sham and later adopting them, and has it not failed miserably in looking at human health in its totality? Even if, for argument's sake, cow urine works only as a placebo, is it not a better, safer, and inexpensive health alternative to many expensive allopathic medicines with deadly side effects? Even limited research shows that cow urine is more than a placebo, it deserves scrutiny and severe criticism, but not scorn borne out of hostility and malice.
This article has been contributed by Manoj Pandy. He does not like to call himself rationalist but insists on scrutiny of apparent myths as well as what are supposed to be immutable scientific facts. Several of his previous articles can be seen under Vigyan and Swasthaya categories on this website.
