Right since childhood, our parents urge us to consume ghee or clarified butter. Using it as a ‘topping’ on our everyday meals, or even using it to prepare Indian sweets, ghee has been an accompaniment for almost every kind of food.
Our ancestors said that GHEE benefits every part of the human body.
RIght from our bones to our skin, our sense organs, our heart, our brain, our digestive system, our immune system our respiratory system…each and every part of our body benefits from GHEE.
Ayurvedic practitioners advice every age-group to consume ghee and benefit from its many virtues. In fact, the West has also woken up to the miracles of this golden beauty!
So, what is it that makes this pride in our culture such an important part of our diet?
5 ways how Ghee benefits every part of the human body:
1 Easy to digest:
I have never known about Lactose Intolerance because I have never experienced it, ever, but, I have heard that Ghee can be had by those who are Lactose Intolerant! Why? Because of its method of preparation.
Butter is heated and the milk solids and impurities get separated, leaving behind a golden liquid that has no effect on those sensitive to Lactose, thus making it safe for them to consume.
2 Helps in digestion:
The first advice, when one complains of constipation or indigestion in my family, has been to drink a cup of warm milk with ghee before going to bed.
Ghee, I have learned, is a source of ‘Butyrate’, a fatty acid necessary to support a healthy digestive system. It provides energy to the colon cells and helps support healthy microbes in the gastrointestinal tract to enhance digestion and elimination.
It is gentle on our system and effectively helps clear the intestines. So, say, “NO” to artificial laxatives and reach for the warm cup of milk with a spoonful of ghee.
If your gut is in good health, you are bound to be in excellent health! Easy elimination of waste keeps our intestinal tract in good shape and us in a happy mood!
3 Strengthens our bones:
I believe our ancestors were far healthier than we are in today’s age. They consumed ghee on a daily basis, which supplied them with all the necessary vitamins their bones required to keep them stronger even in their old age.
Ghee has Vitamin K, a vital nutrient responsible for maintaining bone health. Believe me, I used to give my arthritic pet dog a spoonful of ghee every day to help him get some relief from his painful joints!
To put it simply, ghee provides the lubrication our joints require to work smoothly! Easier to comprehend, isn’t it?
4 Helps in healthy weight loss:
Oh yes! Ghee does that, you know?
Contrary to popular beliefs, ghee does help lose weight in a healthy way!
Every time we grimace at our mother’s suggestion to apply some ghee to our chapatis, fearing we might put on the kilos, we are actually doing more harm than good to our bodies.
The friendly triglycerides found in ghee actually help decrease weight as opposed to those bad ones found in vanaspati and other oils (which we consume along with the junk food we eat to avoid lunch!).
So, the next time you measure your ‘vital stats’ and find it more or less than the ideal, bring the ghee jar to the table and have a spoonful. Every day. That will help you cut the inches off your tummy, your hips and your thighs.
Oh, and do include a workout, too!
5 Keeps skin healthy and glowing:
Every winter, when my skin dries, I waste money on buying those useless Vaseline jars that do nothing but give me temporary relief. What does work, though, in combatting the dryness, is my trusted ghee. In spite of knowing this, I wonder why I buy that Vaseline jar!
Applying ghee to chapped lips, or dry skin will give you a smooth, well moisturized skin.
Consuming ghee along with a cup of warm milk also helps keep your skin well-nourished and keeps dryness at bay.
SOME MORE BENEFITS OF EATING GHEE:
1 Ghee helps soothe burns or wounds.
My granny used to regale us with stories of kings and their brave soldiers who would heal their wounds during the war by applying ghee. “They didn’t have all these fancy medicines you people get these days. For them, ghee was the panacea for every ailment!” she would add, proudly.
2 Ghee is also known to be good for eye-sight, for lustrous hair, skin, and nails, and for memory, too!
3 Ghee is loaded with energy: The reason why my mum applied ghee to chapatis or made laddoos with ghee is this. Nursing moms are also encouraged to eat dink (edible gum) laddoos that are made with desi ghee for the energy they supply.
So, this is how ghee benefits every part of the human body.
How do you prepare ghee at home?
Ayurveda practitioners, as well as dieticians, prescribe cow milk and cow ghee.
Cow ghee contains important nutrients that benefit every part of the human body.
It is antifungal, antiviral, antibacterial in nature.
But, being high in saturated fats, it’s adviced that you consume it in moderation if you are battling excess weight and heart issues.
Preparation:
Collect the cream daily from the milk you boil and store it in the fridge till you have enough for preparing the ghee. Maybe, it might take a week’s time to collect enough cream for the ghee.
Once you have enough cream, bring it out of the fridge, add some curd, or dahi, to it and leave it at room temperature for five to six hours.
I churn it with a wooden ravi that we get especially to churn the cream, but, you could use a blender.
Add a cup of cold water to the cream, put it all in the blender and run it for a few minutes till you see the butter surfacing to the top and the thin buttermilk at the bottom.
Separate the butter from the buttermilk gently with your hand. Gather the butter slowly into a ball and transfer it to another bowl.
The thin buttermilk that remains can go back into the fridge to be had after meals. And, the butter goes into a thick-bottomed pan (if you want to prepare ghee right then) to be placed on the stove and boiled till the milk solids separate and settle to the bottom.
Stand by the stove as the butter melts and heats. It needs all your attention and love to give you what you seek from it!
Once the milk solids settle to the bottom, let the ghee turn nice and golden and the milk solids, brown.
Switch off the stove and allow it to cool.
Strain the ghee into a jar and once cool, close it with a lid.
The ‘burnt’ milk solids (which we call ‘berI’) can be eaten as is or with sugar or with chapati, or added to rice and dal.
The ghee need not be stored in the fridge. It stays well at room temperature for a couple of months. Though, if you fall in love with ghee and eat it every day, I doubt it will last a month. Kids, generally, love it. So, beware, they might love playing the naughty Lord Krishna and wipe clean the jar in days!
So, that’s it about this golden miracle we call, ‘Ghee’.
Do you use it in your daily diet?
Love,
SHILPA…
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Categories: Food & Nutrition
Saving this article… totally agree with the points. The benefits of ghee are now being really advocated even by international celebrities
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Yes, Roshan! We really ought to wake up to the benefits of ghee and replace all that we export from overseas with what really belongs to our culture. That will do a whole lot of good for our health, for sure!
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Yayy.. I have been using ghee instead of vaseline for chapped lips and dry skin as I am allergic to almost all chemical products. This is what our mothers have been telling us always. I include home made ghee in the diet for the family all the time.
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You are a very good girl, Lata!
It is indeed the best part of Indian food, isn’t it?
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Sounds like a magical remedy for so many things. I enjoyed reading about all the benefits of ghee, Shilpa. Not something I know much about so it was quite interesting.
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Thank you, Cat! I wish you could try it out someday. At times, I replace butter with ghee in my food. It’s a lot healthier than butter!
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Informative post. There is such wrong perception that Ghee is bad for health when it’s the healthiest thing. I am putting in dal to cut my cholesterol and will spread some on my rotis:)
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I do that, too, Vishal. In fact, I can have ghee with anything…even soup! All you need to do is replace butter with ghee and improve the nutritive quotient of your meals.
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Yes. I have been running high cholesterol and need to work out something!
Thanks Shilpa.
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Whoa this is a treasure trove of info – awesome points there Shilpa. I think I wil try the one spoon a day funda to go with my morning brekkie whenever I can. I just hate the smell of ghee so wouldnt apply it to chapped lips at all 😉
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Hehe!
Yes, some people aren’t fond of the smell of ghee. But, you should give it a try, Shalz. It will help you in many ways.
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Hey I’m a ghee freak too and live the smell of it bubbling in my pan. We make ghee every fifteen days and make up the shortfall with store bought ghee. I love varan Bhat with toop and toop Sakhar with Poli ….
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Awww….me too! Varan bhaat with toop and limbu…..yummmm!
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comfort food is comfort food
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I have never tried to prepare ghee at home from scratch . I do use store bought butter to make ghee though, that easy for me. I will try this sometime, maybe when the little one is a little older. Agree with you on the benefits of ghee. We, Keralites, are crazy about coconut oil, which has bad reputation, but using in moderation has its benefits too.
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Coconut oil, too, is good for our health, just like Ghee. It’s just that these two haven’t received the respect they deserve!
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All valid points. I am not a big fan of ghee but yes on chappattis and in my dal, ghee is regular at home. Mum-in-law makes it at home and gives me so never a dearth of supply. 🙂
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Good for you, Parul! Even if one doesn’t prepare it at home, one must make it a part of their diet. Ghee really is a miracle worker!
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I love ghee… It adds an awesome flavour to dishes. I include it in my diet in the form of ghee rice. Or when making pulao, instead of oil I use ghee. I have heard about it’s benefits but didn’t know it could help bones as well. I don’t think I have the skill to prepare it at home😅 so I get the good old Amul ghee from Indian store
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That’s good, too, Raj. As long as you use it everyday, ghee will keep showing its benefits on your entire system!
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I love ghee.. The aroma fills the entire house. Our grandmother’s always tell is about the benefits of ghee.. Lately, people are getting influenced with olive oil other products. An informative post, shilpa.
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True, Deep. These days, olive oil is the in thing! Sadly, people are so blind to the benefits of something that belongs to our culture! Wish they would wake up to it and realise how valuable ghee really is!
And, the aroma is simply out of the world!
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Well maushi, there really is no reason not to like tup!!😊
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Yes, Kruti!! So, do you like tup? 🙂
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I loooove tup!
I remember this incidence from my childhood. I was admitted to a hospital because I had pneumonia. I had cough accumulated in my chest.
My cousin, who stays near to my hospital had brought special semi-liquid khichdi for me. And the first thing I asked her was, “You didn’t add ghee?” I could tell it by the smell. Then mom explained that I cannot have it for few days because of the cough 😛
But I feel so proud, that I could tell it even then and just by the smell. Like, you know a dedicated ghee lover 😛 😛
I love ghee with everything, varan, amti, pithla, parotha, thalipeeth, bhakri. puran polli or only puran, jaggery. I am a proud ghee lover!
And you know what I feel? People who generally love ghee and other milk products are very good at heart and are kind. So I am glad that you like ghee too!! ❤ ❤
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Awww….I love you for saying that, Dhanashree!
You sure are a true blue ghee lover, haan! You could make it out at such a young age when it wasn’t added to your khichdi! Wow!
Yes, me too love tup with varan bhaat, thalipeeeth, chapati, puran poli…jaggery-tup-chapati is a fav combo, too! Sometimes, I just scoop a spoonful and have it just like that! It’s heavenly!
We are birds of a feather! ❤ Tup lovers! ❤
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I love eating ghee. So its good that it is so beneficial. Currently not going to take up making homemade ghee but anyways good to know
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It is definitely good Namratha! Even the store bought Ghee holds goodness in it! 😀
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Awesome tips!
Much needed guidance.
I have also written an article on Ghee’s benefit http://bit.ly/2I98cYT
You should definitely go and check my fitness and diet blog http://bit.ly/2K8rEtS
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Thank you!
Yes, I will! 🙂
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