Ghee Nutrition!
From my childhood days, I am listening to the glories of ghee from my Nanis and Dadis (grandmothers). But I never wanted to eat ghee as per the latest trend in the food, diet and weight loss industry. In India, chapattis are always served with ghee. The elderly will keep on telling you to eat ghee, eat ghee and not other oils. They believe that when you will eat ghee, it will make you strong. But I always replied to them just because I eat other oils and not ghee, it doesn’t mean that I’m not strong enough. After all eating oils is the latest trend. So I never had ghee in my teens and twenties.
Eating Ghee, Good/Bad?
Ghee is also known as clarified butter. It is considered a crucial and vital ingredient in traditional Indian cooking and Ayurveda. It is commonly used in Indian and Middle Eastern recipes. Ghee in India has always been sacred & holy and used in the day-to-day rituals of worship. Modern science now verifies what Ayurvedic science has said about ghee for more than thousands of years. Eat ghee because of its health and cooking benefits. When one eats ghee, it helps to promote both physical as well as mental purification because of its ability to cleanse and sustain wellness.
Why and when I started eating this Super Food?
Yes, ghee is now considered an essential power food and I started to eat ghee again when I was blessed with a son. The body of a woman goes through a lot of changes after conceiving and delivering a baby. I wanted to be fitter, healthier and stronger again after becoming a mother. So, finally, I listened to my granny. As being in her nineties she is still active and healthy and started to eat ghee again. Following are the few health benefits that I have found through my three and a half years of eating ghee daily. And finally, I came to know that ‘why should I eat ghee’:-
1. Eat Ghee and Lose Weight
If you are fighting to lose weight then you might have cut all the fats from your diet. The foremost would have been to eat ghee(especially we the Indians). But, are you aware that ghee helps in weight loss? Yes, ghee helps to prevent weight gain, and it aids in weight loss. If you wish to shed pounds, replacing rancid, highly processed vegetable oils with homemade ghee may be a good place to start. Well, it’s true and I have experienced it myself. With a newborn, numerous new mums can’t figure out the time to exercise and at the same time want their pre-pregnancy shape back.
Now, including ghee again into my diet slowly and gradually has helped me to regain my pre-pregnancy weight. Today my son is three and a half years old and I weigh 54.8 kilograms, and my height is 5.3″. All thanks to this superfood ghee. You may also go through How Amla Aids Weight Loss if you want to lose weight.
2. Eat Ghee! Coz it is Good for the Gut!
My grandfather has always said, ‘Oh, you are the vegetable oil girl! If you want that your body should get all the benefits of what you eat and be strong, start to eat ghee!’ Well, now I know why he said so. Ghee is capable of maintaining the variety and strength of the gut(stomach and the intestines) bacteria. This is so as the SCFA (Short Chain Fatty Acid) in ghee is now recognized as a ‘prebiotic’ – something which creates an environment that promotes the growth of gut-friendly bacteria. Ghee nourishes the good bacteria that all of us already have in our gut.
3. Appropriate for Lactose Intolerant
Yes, ghee is safe to eat for lactose-sensitive people because the milk solids that are there in butter are removed when the butter is clarified – known as ghee. For a few people, dairy products tend to give acne. However, homemade desi(the local breed) cow ghee will never give you acne-prone skin.
4. Eat Ghee and Relieve Constipation
Are you one of those who wake up feeling constipated or have any digestion issues? Just adding an extra teaspoon of ghee on top of your dinner meal will help you. Even adding 1-2 tsp of ghee to a cup of hot milk and drinking it before going off to sleep is an age-old Indian traditional remedy for relieving constipation. I have seen the difference myself as I used to have digestion issues when ghee was not a part of my diet.
5. Relieves Acidity
Unfortunately, many ill health problems are our own callings as we invite them ourselves through our inaccurate lifestyle habits. Today every third person suffers from this problem of acidity or acid reflux. Pure ghee from desi cow works best to cure and prevent it. Yes, ghee aids in ensuring proper digestive health. Mix 2 tsp of ghee in a glassful of milk. Taking it once a day acts as a liner inside the gut and will heal all the harm caused by acid reflux. Consuming ghee daily also helps in minimising stomach acid while simultaneously repairing the gut lining.
6. Protection against Carcinogens
Carcinogens are substances capable of causing cancer in living tissue. A number of studies prove that having just 2-3 tsp of homemade cow milk ghee daily has a protective effect against carcinogens. So eat ghee, as it boosts the availability of enzymes. These enzymes are responsible for the detoxification of cancer-causing substances because of the presence of CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid).
Ghee Nutrition
Like all fats, ghee is quite high in calories. It contains a full spectrum of short, medium and long-chain fatty acids. Ghee or clarified butter is a good source of memory-boosting fats omega 3 and omega 9 (the essential fatty acids). It is also rich in vitamins A, D, E and K. One of the highest natural sources of CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid). As ghee does not contain any milk solids, it contains the least amount of calcium. Approximately 1 mg per tablespoon.
As far as its benefits are concerned, ghee is more stable than butter when heated at high temperatures. It has a higher smoking point than butter.
How to Consume
The best way to consume ghee is to add it to curries, dal (legumes and pulses) and chapattis. One can even use it for sautéing. I personally swap it for butter for spreading or while baking cookies or cake.
As I did not eat ghee for 13 years. I started it again into my diet by adding one teaspoon of ghee on top of my dal for lunch. It increased to 3 teaspoons gradually. One each for breakfast, lunch and dinner. By this time, I was loving its taste as well. Today I eat 7-8 tablespoons of ghee daily and I am much more energetic, fitter, leaner and stronger than before. “How are you this fit? With a year old baby”, often people ask me. When I tell them how ghee has affected my life, it’s hard for them to believe. However, this is the truth.
I am not recommending you consume ghee in this large amounts. But, yes you can certainly include it in your daily diet slowly and gradually as per your comfort. If you have never eaten ghee in your life before then please start by adding only half a tsp to your daily diet. As otherwise you may have diarrhoea or vomiting because your body may take time to get used to ghee.
My grandmother and mother use to say one amazing benefit of pure ghee, it removes dirt from the brain cells and refreshes the cells of the body thus improving the quality of life.
Let’s eat ghee without hesitation, without regrets and without any doubts and have a healthy life.
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