5 benefits of ghee

nutritionpregnancyhealth and wellness
Written By Krsna Jivani

Ghee has been used in India for thousands of years. Ghee can be infused with herbs and taken as medicine, or used as an everyday household cooking oil. The Charak Samhita, an ancient Ayurvedic authoritative text states “Out of all the oils fit for human consumption, ghee is the best to eat.” Ghee is known as “liquid gold.” It is glorified throughout the ancient texts of Ayurveda for its taste and health benefits. Many nutritionists and naturopaths today are noticing the value of ghee’s nurturing and nourishing qualities and considering it essential to a healthy diet.

What is Ghee?

According to Divya Alter, Certified Nutritional Consultant and Educator of the SV Ayurveda Tradition, “Ghee is the deeply nourishing core essence of milk.” She says in her Ayurvedic Cookbook What to Eat for How You Feel, “[Ghee] has all the micronutrients and antioxidants of butter but without butter’s water, milk protein (casein), and lactose.” Ghee is clarified butter. It is made by simmering unsalted butter on low heat for several hours. The water evaporates and leaves behind the milk solids. These milk solids float to the top and are then strained out of the pot. What is left behind behind is the pure, golden, clarified, liquid oil, which is known as ghee.

Benefits of Ghee

1. Ghee helps our bodies absorb important nutrients into our cells:

One of the most important qualities of ghee is that it helps us absorb nutrients deep into our cells. Here’s how it works. In order to allow nutrients to pass into the cells in our bodies, our food has to be broken down into tiny particles. Those particles then have to pass through the cell membrane to gain access to our cells. Cell membranes serve as gate keepers to our cells; only allowing some molecules to pass through, such as nutrients, while blocking out other particles, such as toxins. All the cell membranes in our bodies are made of cholesterol. This gives the membranes a consistency of a light oil, therefore, fat soluble molecules can slide easily through cell membranes. This makes ghee a perfect vehicle to carry nutrients deep into all of the cells in our body. Therefore, when you cook with ghee, it allows the nutrients of your food to be easily absorbed into your cells, and when you use medicated ghee (ghee infused with medicinal herbs - or ghrita/ghritam), the ghee acts as a driver for the medicine to carry it into the cells.

2. Ghee Contains essential vitamins and minerals to prevent disease

Ghee is loaded with fat soluble vitamins such as Vitamin A, D, E, and K, as well as many antioxidants and healthy fats. It also contains Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) and Butyric Acid or Butyrate. Conjugated Linoleic Acid, or CLA, is a type of healthy fat that burns fat in the body and helps to build muscle mass. As a natural source of CLA, ghee can support healthy weight loss and building of muscle mass. CLA also prevents inflammation in the walls of the arteries as well as prevents hardening of arteries, both of which can lead to heart attacks. Dr. Marianne Teitelbaum, Ayurvedic Practitioner and long-time student of Dr. Vasant Lad, says that ghee made from butter that comes from grass-fed cows contains higher levels of CLA, and cultured ghee, or ghee made from cultured butter, contains twice the amount of CLA as standard ghee.

Ghee also contains Butyric Acid or Butyrate. Butyrate is a fatty acid made by the health-promoting bacteria in the gut. It plays a major role in maintaining the health of our gut microbiome. Within the gut there is a mucus layer, that in order to act as a shield for pathogens, has to remain thick. If that mucus layer were to thin out, or even dry out and crack, it allows for many pathogens to pass through the gut. This can cause symptoms similar those associated with what is known as leaky gut syndrome. Consuming ghee allows the tight junctions of the intensities to stay in tact, keeps the mucus layer nice and thick, and therefore allows the friendly gut bacteria to grow and maintains a strong shield for pathogens. This could potential heal or prevent imbalances in the body such as those related to IBS, Chrons disease, Ulceritive colitis, lactose intolerance, and other diseases of the digestive tract.

3. Ghee Lowers Cholesterol

Many people avoid dairy due to the fear of developing high cholesterol. Dr. Teitelbaum, who has treated hundreds of patients across the United States, finds that her patients discover that when they eat ghee, their cholesterol goes down. She contributes this to ghee containing high concentrations of monounsaturated omega-3s, which are beneficial fats that keep arteries clean and prevent heart attacks.

It is a myth that consuming ghee raises cholesterol just because it is a cooking oil. Usually, when you heat oils to a high temperature, they oxidize and form dangerous compounds that cause disease in the body. Many people are starting to learn the health risks of consuming oils such as canola oil, vegetable oil, peanut oil, mustard oil, and sunflower oil, and now are turning towards oils such as avocado oil and coconut oil which have a higher smoking point that wont oxidize when cooked on high heat. According to Ayurveda, however, avocado oil and coconut oil are considered heavy, waxy, cold, and hard to digest. These oils are ideal if you live close to equator where the heat from the sun gives strong digestive fires. However, if you live in North America or places further from the equator, theses oils can be too heavy to digest properly in your body. Ghee is easiest oil to digest and has the highest smoking point of any oil at 485 degrees. This shows why ancient Ayurvedic doctors said, “out of all the oils fit for human consumption, ghee is the best to eat.”

4. Ghee supports fertility in women and intelligence in children

The Ancients said that for those who consume ghee, “women will be highly fertile, and children will be very intelligent.” Scientifically speaking, the female hormones which make you fertile are made out of cholesterol. Since ghee is a nourishing, healthy form of cholesterol, it makes sense that it would therefore increase fertility. The brain also uses cholesterol to function, which also leads us to understand why ghee was said to increase intelligence. A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, an Indian scholar and pharmacist, also said “Cow's milk is particularly essential for developing the finer tissues of the human brain...” This is why Ayurveda recommends consuming ghee in various ways to prepare the body for conception, throughout every month of pregnancy, and to heal the body postpartum.

5. Ghee supports the body in every stage of the childbearing year

According to Ayurveda, ghee is one of the most important foods for a pregnant mother. It increases ojas, promotes digestion, and is easy to digest. By infusing ghee with medicinal herbs, the medicine from the herbs can be driven deep into the cells of every tissue layer to support a mother during the childbearing year. Ghee infused with Ashwagandha and Shatavari when taken by both men and women before conception, can strengthen the deepest tissue layers in the body: the reproductive tissues. When taken during pregnancy, ghee lubricates the body internally and helps to prepare the body for childbirth. Traditionally, medicated ghee is taken each day by a pregnant mama in her 2nd and 3rd trimester, with various herbs to support developing the mental strength and bodily systems of the fetus, prevent anemia in the mother, as well as to ensure complete development of the fetus, support carrying to full term, a healthy delivery, and good fortune for the child. During the postpartum sacred window, an herbal infused ghee known as Panchakola, is the first food taken by a mother after giving birth, and continued minimally every day for 6 weeks. It is said that ghee should be served on top of every meal given to a postpartum mother, as well as used as the main cooking oil. Regular consumption of ghee postpartum facilitates faster healing for the mother, encourages “losing baby weight” and is essential for maintaining the mother’s digestion to prevent constipation, gas, bloating, as well as colic in her newborn. Ghee also increases ojas in the body, which is very important for conception, pregnancy, birth, as well as postpartum.

Where to find ghee?

Make your own

It is simple to make ghee on your own once you learn how. It takes several hours of monitoring the stove with your attention, however it is much cheaper to make your own ghee than it is to buy pre-made ghee. Read our blog post, How to Make Ghee for a quick and easy homemade ghee recipe.

Where to Purchase Ghee

You can find ghee at most health food stores, like Whole Foods or a similar local health food store. You can also order ghee online through many different sources. It is best to source organic, grass-fed, and/or cultured ghee, with a company you trust.

How to Use ghee?

You can use ghee just as you would any other cooking oil. You can sauté spices, use it on vegetables and grains, or bake with it. You can also add it on top of your food, such as you would for a postpartum mother, or spread it on toast like you would butter. Ghee can be taken as a medicine daily, whether plain or infused with medicinal herbs. As an ancient form of medicine, ghee can support your health in your daily life, as well as in your childbearing year.

Krsna Jivani
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