Indian doctor consumes cow excreta for 'health benefits', says helps in 'delivering babies normally'

An Indian doctor has claimed that cow dung has many health benefits — a revelation that gave many Internet users the shock of their lives.

The doctor, identified as Dr Manoj Mittal from Karnal, Haryana, has consumed cow excreta on camera and said that it has health benefits and can also help in delivering babies normally, according to Indian media outlets.

"Science has proven that extracting a spoonful of cow dung from four spoons and [consuming] it during pregnancy, then the chances of having a normal delivery increase," Dr Mittal said in a video that has been making rounds on social media.

The doctor said cow dung also contains Vitamin B12, which shields people from radiation. "Radiation [...] can cause infertility [...] so, to save ourselves from radiation, if we get Vitamin B12 from natural resources, then why shouldn't we use it?"

In May, when some Indians were covering themselves with cow dung and urine to help them boost immunity against coronavirus, Dr JA Jayalal, national president at the Indian Medical Association, had said: "There is no concrete scientific evidence that cow dung or urine work to boost immunity against COVID-19, it is based entirely on belief."

"There are also health risks involved in smearing or consuming these products — other diseases can spread from the animal to humans," he added.

It is worth noting that in India, it is not uncommon for prominent personalities to claim the medicinal benefits of cow dung.