Ever since we were young, our mothers and our grandmothers tried their utmost to make us eat ghee. They would add a spoon full of it in the dal or smear it on the roti; they would even resort to sneaky ways to make sure that we consumed ghee. No matter how much they tried to convince us to eat ghee, we were repulsed by its strong pungent smell and its thick texture.
Growing up we warmed up to ghee, but it was certainly not one of our favorite food item. Though did you ever wonder what makes this dairy product so beneficial for our health?
#1. Smoke point
We have always preferred butter over ghee, little did we know that unlike butter, ghee can tolerate heat easily. It can be used to roast or deep fry any food product at high temperature whereas butter would just burn up. Now you would wonder how that is good for our health since deep frying anything is not going to benefit the body. Well, smoke point matters because if oil is overheated, it can destroy beneficial compounds, create free radicals, and release harmful chemicals.
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#2. Rich in vitamin A and vitamin E
The ghee that we were so strongly against also contains two essential vitamins - A and E. A single tablespoon of ghee has nearly 8% of your daily requirement of vitamin A, and it is also a strong antioxidant that can prevent cancer. Ghee is a fat soluble vitamin that has a plethora of health benefits such as boosting the immune system, vision, fertility, and healthy skin. The vitamin E that ghee contains reduces the sign of aging and studies suggest that it can help prevent heart disease, dementia, cancer, and stroke. It turns out there was a lot of truth in our mother’s nagging.
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#3. Lactose free
One major problem with dairy products is that many people are lactose intolerant, they can’t think of consuming any dairy product without falling sick. Ghee though does not pose any such problem; the clarification process assures that it removes the fat solid from butter oil, eliminating lactose and galactose since these two ingredients can cause stomach problems in a lot of people. It ultimately makes ghee safe for people to consume.
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#4. Contains conjugated linoleic acid
Ghee is rich in conjugated linoleic acid which is a strong antioxidant that studies prove is anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-allergy. This potent product can be found in significant amount in ghee. Due to this, eating ghee in moderate amount can significantly reduce your chances of getting a heart attack.
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#5. Rich in vitamin K
Ghee is also known to contain vitamin K that is essential for the bones and blood clotting. This vitamin is naturally produced in the body by bacteria in the digestive tract, but the fat content that is present in ghee helps in absorption. Just one tablespoon has around 1 % of your daily need.
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Do you like eating ghee or are not overly fond of it? Also, did you know of these health benefits that ghee contains? Do let us know using the comment box below.
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