It seems a centuries old Ayurvedic medical practice is making a huge comeback in India, according to this article on MSNBC. In case your world religions are a little rusty, Hindus hold cows as sacred. As an outgrowth of this, products made by cows also have an enormous history of usage in that country. Of course, you’re not allowed to slaughter cows, but you are allowed to use the five following items, collectively known as panchgavya: milk, curd, cheese, urine and dung.

Cow products made from dung and urine (known as goratna) have seen an enormous boost in popularity lately. You can get lotions, potions and pills, some of which are cure-alls that battle everything from constipation, to irregular periods, to hysteria, to cancer, and much more.

In addition to medicines, the goratna products range from cow dung toothpaste, to detergents, a skin-whitening cream, baldness and obesity cures, soap and a cow urine “antiseptic aftershave.”

Cow dung toothpaste is probably one of the single-best ideas I’ve ever heard in my entire life. As hilarious as all this seems to us Westerners though, it’s actually doing some good, as it helps promote the economies and industries of villages throughout India.

So I guess everybody wins.

(Also check out Infoprophecy’s post on this same article!)