In a live session on Instagram with adventurer Bear Grylls, actor Akshay Kumar revealed that he drinks cow urine every day “for Ayurvedic reasons” and that therefore, drinking elephant poop tea on the show Man Vs. Wild was not a big deal. Ayurveda is an alternative medicine system with historical and religious roots in the Indian subcontinent.
Grylls looked baffled with the revelation on the video and laughed about it, saying he has not heard anything like this from many of his guests.
“I tell you what, not many of my guests say that they drink cow urine every day. This is like a holiday,” Grylls exclaimed.
Akshay, who was also joined by actress Huma Qureshi, was asked how he convinced himself to drink elephant poop tea on the show.
He said: "I wasn't worried. I was too excited to be worried. I have cow urine because of Ayurvedic reasons every day, so that was okay.”
Akshay's fans were also unimpressed by his habit, which he made public for the first time. Many took to Twitter to express their cringe on him drinking "animals pee".
In India, consuming cow urine and the usage of cow dung for their medicinal properties have remained the subject of debate debate, with most doctors and nutritionists rejecting the claims of Hindu believers.
Hindus consider the cow as a holy animal, and many believe cow urine has medicinal properties to treat diseases like cancer.
Amid coronavirus pandemic, Hindu organisations, as well as political leaders, have touted the consumption of cow and cow dung as an effective precaution or even remedy for coronavirus.