Ghee has been a part and parcel of Indian household for a long long time. But the influence of western culture has impacted our trust on ghee, we started doubting it. Now the only good fat we consider is olive oil. The fact is you should always stick to your roots. Anything that is produced and grows around you naturally is what is best for you to survive and grow in that surrounding. Another thing with fats, be it any kind of oil, ghee or butter is that fat is not bad, you (mis)use fat by deep frying your food in it or adding it in huge quantities in your vegetables and applying 2-3 spoonfuls on your chapati, is what makes fat bad. Fat is a very vital part of our daily diets. So let’s hear it from our own, in house production called ghee.
1. Good for lactose intolerants: Ghee is made from butter, but when you make ghee from butter, the milk solids and other impurities get removed this is the reason why people who are lactose intolerant, can easily consume ghee without facing any side effects or allergies.
2. Long lasting: Since the ghee doesn’t contain milk solids, it lasts longer. So there is absolutely no reason to refrigerate ghee, unless you love how it tastes and looks when it’s frozen (like me!) In fact, in Ayurveda, aged ghee is said to have great medicinal qualities and is considered good.
3. Great for joints: It is advised that you should consume 1 table spoon every day to keep your joints smooth and friction free. Ghee maintains the greasing at the joints thus keep the movement easy and painless.
4. Nutritionally Rich: Ghee is nutritionally rich and can be absorbed directly to the liver and burnt as energy. This is why athletes use ghee as a healthy fat to gain energy.
5. Digestion and weight loss: Ghee is rich in butyric acid, which is a short chain fatty acid. It helps the intestinal bacteria to convert fiver into butyric acid and thus use it as energy. This energy helps to burn fat in the system thus helping you in weight loss.
6. High smoke point: Ghee has high smoke point thus it doesn’t break down into free radicles when used for frying. This perhaps is the reason, we emphasize so much on food prepared with “shuddha desi ghee”. The fumes produced when ghee is burnt carry medicinal properties and help to remove impurities from the body. This probably is the reason why ancient sages carried yagna or havan with ghee.
7. Medicinal Properties: Ghee has many medicinal properties. It also enhances the taste and nutrition content in herbs and spices. This is why all Ayurvedic medicines are prepared in ghee. It is also advisable to use ghee to roast spices in the kitchen, because it enhances the flavours, add fragrance to your kitchen and absorbs all the nutrients from the spices.
8. Good for heart: Studies have proven that consumption of ghee helps to reduce cholesterol. While consuming ghee by a healthy man won’t make much of a difference to his cholesterol, if a heart patient or one who has cholesterol problems, consumes ghee regularly, it will help him reduce the cholesterol in his body.
9. Moisturises: Ghee is considered to have great moisturising qualities. If your skin is very dry and you complain about chapped lips a lot, ghee is very beneficial for you. All you have to do is warm some ghee and apply it to your lips at night before sleeping. Wash it off in the morning with water and you will see soft and smooth lips. The best part is you can also use it as a prevention, besides it doesn’t have any side effects. If you mix ghee with water and drink it early in the morning, it will help you nourish your skin from inside.
Now that you know so many benefits of ghee are you still contemplating about adding ghee to your daily diet? To know more about ghee click here.