To be honest, I’m very heavy handed with my ghee use, I absolutely love it because it’s not only an amazing fat to cook with, its incredibly versatile as you can use it in both sweet or savoury dishes, it smells slightly like caramel, its super easy to make and it contains many nutritional and health benefits.
Nutritional & Health Benefits of Ghee
Grass-fed ghee is an excellent source of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K which make up the building blocks of our sex hormones and play a vital role in liver health, fertility and hormone balance.
Ghee is a natural source of cholesterol which is a natural healing agent in the body. Levels of cholesterol rise during periods of stress or when inflammation is present. When we provide the body with natural sources of cholesterol through good quality fat, eggs and salmon this helps the body address the inflammation. Cholesterol is vital for many, many processes in the body including; a healthy immune system, our brain is made up of 25% cholesterol, bile is made from cholesterol, it’s the building block of endocrine and adrenal glands and our sex hormones which are essential for regulating our metabolism, energy production, mineral assimilation and much more.
Great source of butyric acid (or butyrate) (an anti-carcinogenic short chain fatty acid) which helps to boast numerous healing and soothing properties in the intestinal tract including detoxifying, reducing inflammation, improves colon health, aids those suffering from IBS, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
Helps support a healthy digestive tract by increasing gastric acid and aiding efficient digestion.
Has a high smoke point and is stable for cooking as it’s a saturated fat. This means it can be used in any type of cooking, sautéing, baking and/ or frying and will not oxidise and become toxic.
Unlike butter, ghee is also lactose and casein free. When you make ghee, the casein and lactose which are found in the milk solids sink to the bottom. This means you only collect the golden butter fat (top layer) and discard the milk solids (bottom layer). Please note that if you are allergic to milk, ghee could contain trace amounts and may trigger a reaction, if this is the case you could ‘culture’ the ghee as the added beneficial bacteria will eat up any trace amount that’s left over.
It also makes a wonderful body moisturiser, just use a small dab with a drop or two of your favourite essential oil and massage directly onto the skin. It’s incredibly nourishing and you’ll smell amazing too.
Click HERE to find out how to make your own ghee
You can also buy ghee in your local health food stores and from many online health food websites. I love Primal Collective’s Grass Fed Ghee and make sure I always have a jar on hand for whenever I’m in a pinch and have run out and it’s the perfect size for travelling.