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What Traditional Indian Ghee Can Do for Your Health

by Nicole Dorsey Straff

indian ghee

Many yoga practitioners and home chefs have been consuming this Indian ghee delicacy for a hundred years, and although I believe it’s an acquired taste, making this simple clarified butter remedy at home is quite simple and worth investigation.

One of my former yoga teachers recommended mixing this topical variation of clarified butter (ghee) with organic honey as an application for blisters, wounds and muscle inflammation from exercise overtraining. (My dogs kept licking the tasty concoction off my sore calves the last time I applied ghee to my lower body.)

In some Ayurvedic texts, its other health benefits are described:

Ghee is sweet in taste and cooling in energy, rejuvenating, good for the eyes and vision, kindles digestion, bestows luster and beauty, enhances memory and stamina, increases intellect, promotes longevity, is an aphrodisiac and protects the body from various diseases.

There is some initial research that this non-GMO essential fatty acid has the benefits of butter without the impurities. Eastern home cooks and natural chefs commonly place their ghee at the top of the oily foods list along with saturated fats and milk solids.

To many, ghee tastes like popcorn, and, in India, this traditional ingredient is quite often used as a mouth deodorizer with anti-bacterial properties.  Many older seniors of Eastern descent still swish it around their mouths as a sort of wash to minimize mucus, alleviate sinus pressure and whiten teeth.

I prefer to keep my ghee ready for skin ailments because it is still butter and packs fatty calories into your day. (Many people take ghee straight as a digestive aid, because it may help you go to the bathroom—quite similar to cod liver oil, but far better tasting.)

You’ll find ghee online and in many health food stores, but it’s fairly easy to make:

1. Place 1 pound of butter in a saucepan on low heat.
2. Melt until the white curds separate and sink to the bottom.
3. When water hits the pan and sizzles, your ghee is ready.
4. Discard the curds and store the mix in a jar. (Keep it away from water and it requires no refrigeration.)
5. Swallow 2 teaspoons per day as a supplement or use it to stir-fry, sauté and roast too. Read about ghee and decide if you’ll use it as an elixir or a healing salve.

ORGANIC INDIA uses USDA-certified organic food and requires non-GMO verifications for their ghee.

Connect with Nicole @nicoledorsey1

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