Camel's Milk, The New Viagra

JAIPUR, INDIA - There is new-found respect in the region for the resilient ship of the desert. Ever since 88-year-old Barmer farmer Virmaram Jat, who fathered a boy a few weeks ago, said camel milk was the secret of his sexual prowess, the demand for this "aphrodisiac" has shot up.
Inquiries have been pouring in. Local demand has shot up to the extent that the few vendors who stock camel milk have hiked its price, capitalising on the demand.
Sangram Singh, who sells camel milk in Jodhpur's Jalori Gate, has now priced it at a whopping Rs 40 per litre, instead of the Rs 20-25 a litre that he was charging only a month ago.
Others too have followed suit and there seems to be a race to procure camel milk. To the extent that people are ruing the fact that while in countries like Dubai and UAE preserved and packaged camel milk is available, this is not the case in India.
However, Jat's claim has not sunk in well with doctors in Bikaner and Jaipur. Doctors feel that Jat's sexual prowess has nothing to do with drinking camel's milk. They say he is one of the few individuals who have managed to retain their sexual urge despite advancing age.
Doctors in fact are lauding his 43-year-old wife, Gammo Devi, who had the will to deliver a child after 40. The scientific community too feels Jat's claims have no base. Director of the National Research Centre on Camels, M S Sahani, said there was no scientific base to his claim.
He said research on therapeutic properties of camel's milk on patients suffering from diabetes and T B had been carried out by scientists of NRCC and doctors of PBM Hospital, Bikaner. It was found that patients on a regular dose of camel's milk were cured faster than those on bovine milk.
Senior scientist at NRCC, Raghvendra Singh said camel milk had higher anti-oxidant properties and its fat content was low. "The fat profile of camel's milk shows that small chain fatty acids are present in smaller amounts than large chain fatty acids. The shelf life of the camel's milk is also more than that of bovine milk," he said.
Israeli scientist Reuben Yagil, who was in Bikaner recently, said all efforts should be made to increase the yield of camel's milk, as it is nature's gift to mankind. Reuben said camel milk ice creams would soon be available in Russia.
He said an institute in Israel carrying out research on camel milk had found that it could be used as a cure in many diseases.
from The Times Of India