Ghee plays a special role in Ayurvedic medicine. It is both medicine and food and is one of the most important fats in Indian and Pakistani cuisine. In Ayurveda, ghee is considered to have an important meaning as an “elixir of life”. We explain what effect on health is attributed to the fat, whether ghee is healthier than butter and how you can make ghee yourself.
What is ghee?
Ghee, simply put, is the Indian form of clarified butter or clarified butter. To make it, butter is heated and its foam skimmed off – leaving behind the pure fat. Usually, butter from cow’s milk is used for this purpose, but milk from goats, sheep, camels or elephants is also a possible base. Ghee has a yellowish-white color. The taste depends on the method of production. In the traditional Indian Desi method, for example, the already slightly acidic butter is melted over a fire, so the ghee takes on a slight smoky aroma. In Ayurveda, on the other hand, ghee is obtained exclusively by a boiling method, for which the butter is first cut into small pieces and washed off. Unlike butter, which contains about 80 percent fat, ghee consists almost exclusively of fat. All other components of butter, such as protein, lactose and water, are removed during the production of ghee.
Effect of ghee on health
Even though fats are generally not considered to be healthy foods, ghee can definitely score with some positive effects on health:
- Ghee, quite unlike other oils, does not form free radicals in the cells.
- The fat can reduce inflammation levels in the body.
- Daily intake of ghee can improve cholesterol levels and blood lipids, which has a positive effect on the cardiovascular system.
- A study also provided evidence of symptom relief in psoriasis.
- In animal studies, ghee also appeared to slow the development of cancer.
Ghee for dry eyes
For dry eyes, an eye bath with warm ghee can help. This increases the amount of fat in the tear fluid, so it does not evaporate as quickly. Here’s how you can treat dry eye with ghee:
- Using a thermometer, heat the ghee in a water bath to exactly 33 degrees Celsius.
- Put two to three tablespoons of the fat in an eye bath.
- Bathe the open eyes in it for about 10 minutes each in turn.
Repeat the eye bath twice a week to treat dry eyes. Also in Ayurveda, by the way, ghee is valued for its anti-inflammatory effect. Therefore, in the Indian healing art eye baths with the fat are also recommended for eye irritation.
Ayurveda: importance as a remedy
In Ayurveda, ghee has long been considered an important remedy. It is said to have many beneficial effects on health, especially the cells, nerves and skin. According to Indian health teachings, ghee is said to, among other things:
- Detoxify the body
- Promote digestion and metabolism and help with constipation
- Stimulate the appetite
- Promote concentration
- Reduce fever
- Support wound healing and prevent scarring
- Help against anemia
- Support the immune system
- Regenerate cells, rejuvenate and prolong life
In addition, ghee is said to balance the three vital forces known in Ayurveda, vata, pitta and kapha, and provide nutrients to body tissues.
Application of ghee in Ayurveda
In the Indian art of healing, ghee is used both internally and externally. Therefore, it is not only used in Ayurvedic cooking as an ingredient in cooking and baking, which is supposed to make the food easier to digest. It is also used as a base for Ayurvedic ointments and as a carrier for various remedies, helping the active ingredients to enter the cells. Massages with warm ghee are also used to treat dry and irritated skin. Corresponding foot massages are said to alleviate headaches and sleep disorders, as well as having an optional calming or invigorating effect. In Ayurvedic therapy, warm ghee is also used in the form of a three-day drinking cure to detoxify the body. For this purpose, so-called medicinal ghee is used, which is cooked with various medicinal herbs for 100 hours in an elaborate procedure.
Ghee: nutrients, calories
Because substances such as water, lactose and milk protein are removed during the production of ghee, the purified fat actually contains a slightly higher concentration of the original vitamins and minerals compared to butter. Ultimately, the more nutrient-rich the butter from which the fat is made, the healthier the final product. Like butter, ghee contains vitamins A, D, E and K, as well as sodium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and iron. The butyric acid it contains is considered good for intestinal problems. Despite its healthy effects, it is important to remember that ghee is a fat that is roughly equivalent to other fats in terms of calories – at around 900 kilocalories, ghee can hardly be called a slimming agent. It should therefore not simply be consumed in addition to normal food, but should replace other fats.
Essential fatty acids in ghee
Ghee contains mostly saturated fatty acids, which are often suspected of negatively affecting cholesterol levels. However, the healthy effects of ghee, and in particular its cholesterol-lowering effect, contradict the common assumption that larger amounts of saturated fatty acids are harmful. This supports the more recent view that saturated fats are healthier than long suspected.
Ghee and butter compared
Ghee, or rather clarified butter, used to be very popular as a frying fat – today the industrially produced product is rarely used in the kitchen. Yet it offers several advantages over butter:
- Thanks to its low content of polyunsaturated fatty acids, the heating of which can produce the harmful trans fats, ghee is very suitable for frying and deep-frying – quite unlike butter. This not only splashes in the pan, but the protein it contains burns quite quickly.
- If ghee is stored airtight and dry, it is also very long shelf life because of its low water content – even if it is not stored in the refrigerator. Butter, on the other hand, must always be refrigerated, otherwise it quickly becomes rancid.
- Since the production of ghee removes the lactose from the butter, the fat is lactose-free and can also be consumed by people with lactose intolerance.
- In Ayurveda, ghee is also preferred to unmodified butter because it is considered easier to digest.
Storage and shelf life
Ghee does not necessarily need to be stored in the refrigerator, but this will extend its shelf life. At room temperature, ghee lasts about nine months, in the refrigerator circa 15 months. Ideally, always remove ghee with a clean spoon to avoid contamination. If the fat smells rancid, it should no longer be used.
Tips for buying ghee
When buying ghee, you should look for quality – because the higher quality butter it is made from, the healthier the ghee will be. Therefore, make sure to buy ghee made from organically produced butter if possible, ideally from free-range or pasture-raised cows. In Ayurveda, only medicinal ghee is used for healing purposes. For vegans, by the way, there is vegetable ghee (vanaspati) to buy in the health food store – here, however, caution is advised with regard to the formation of trans fatty acids. Another vegan alternative, although slightly different in taste, is coconut oil, which is highly heatable without the formation of trans fats.
Make your own ghee
Ghee is also quite easy to make yourself. Whether you use sweet or sour cream butter as a base makes no difference to the quality of the ghee initially. However, sweet cream butter has the advantage of flocculating less. In any case, it is recommended to use unsalted butter. For the production of ghee, one should allow about one hour of cooking time per kilogram of butter. The more carefully the ghee is made, the better the result.
Recipe: How to make ghee yourself
- Slowly heat the butter in a saucepan without a lid over low heat until it simmers gently. Do not stir in the process.
- Skim the milk protein foam that forms on the surface with a slotted spoon.
- Repeat until no more foam is formed and the mixture in the pot is golden and quite clear.
- Pour the mixture through a fine sieve, coffee filter or cloth.
- Fill the finished ghee in a tightly sealable container, preferably glass or clay, and let it cool.
Other recipes call for briefly boiling the butter after it has been carefully melted, or not skimming off the foam, but straining the entire mass through a cloth. Just try out with which preparation you like the ghee best.
