Coming from a Punjabi family, it was not an uncommon sight for me to see my father scoop out a dollop of ghee onto his paratha or daal and moan with satisfaction with every bite. At the time, my sisters and I couldn’t hide our disgust and would refuse to come to the table with that, less call it ‘unpleasant’ shall we, the odor wafting off the food. Now, I don’t claim to have fallen in love with ghee but, now that medical science has finally caught up with an old Ayurvedic claims that, ghee, in fact, is extremely beneficial, I find myself more aware of the numerous benefits of ghee.
Ghee is also known ‘clarified butter’. It is made by simmering unsalted butter, which is made from cream, that it splits into a liquid and solid component. The liquid is drained and the residue can be stored. Originating from ancient India and commonly used in South Asian cuisines, Benefits of Ghee has very distinct taste and odor that is unlike butter. In different parts of the world different things are added to ghee to give it distinct flavors, e.g. yogurt curd, spices, herbs and even crushed nuts. Given below are 6 benefits of ghee that you may have never have heard of.
1. Ghee is Great for Weight Loss
Now, I don’t mean that you should start chugging ghee to lose weight, because, remember, it is still dairy. Ayurvedic approach to a good cleanse is to eliminate all fats from your diet, just like any other cleanse. The only difference is that, Ayurvadhy promotes the use of ghee every morning so that you get all the important nutrients you need from a fatty food, minus all the negatives such as free radicals, excessive calories etc.
2. Great for the Digestive System
Our gut naturally has micro-bacteria that convert the fiber and other nutrients, we eat, into butyric acid, which is essential for a healthy working digestive tract. Ghee naturally contains this acid, which can enhance the immune support for the gut and reduce inflammation of the intestinal wall.
3. Works for Hair and Scalp
Old Indian practices included applying ghee to the scalp and skin for various ailments. Today, science has discovered that, Benefits of Ghee is good for dry skin and scalp or dandruff. Since it has anti-inflammatory properties it can decrease swelling of the skin and can be used to treat burns.
4. Ghee has Fewer Calories
Ghee has a very high boiling point and can, therefore, be used to cook food in. This can be beneficial as it has fewer calories than normal cooking oil. So why not fry your food in ghee?
5. Lactose Intolerant? Not to Worry
Ghee can be taken by anyone with a low threshold for lactose. This is because, when it is made, it is separated from all the milk proteins and contains very low amounts of casein, an important milk protein.
6. A Great Source of Fat Soluble Vitamins
Vitamin A, D, and E can be obtained by consuming Benefits of Ghee. They are extremely important to improve your health and eating ghee every morning can provide you with 15% of your daily requirement.