ghee number 1

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Ghee and Butter

The

ancient writers of the Vedas were apparently nomads long before they settled,

along with their cows, in what we know as modern India. They brought their

affinity for, and knowledge of the use of, milk products with them. Various

cow’s milk preparations are widely used in the diet suggested for yoga

practitioners. One of these, ghee, or clarified butter, stands out.

Ghee is the best of all oily foodstuffs, and is used to cure disturbances

in fire and air. Ghee is thought to have the healing benefits of

butter, with the impurities (saturated fat, milk solids) removed. The Susruta

Samhita claims ghee is good for all parts of the body, and it is considered

the ultimate overall remedy for pitta (inflammatory) problems, and is the

medium of choice (anupan) for mixing medicines for these conditions.

Specifically, ghee is said to promote memory, intelligence, quantity

and quality of semen, and to enhance digestion. We do know from modern

science that ghee is rich in phenolic antioxidants.

Dietary fats regulate a wide variety of T cell functions. A 1996

study in mice showed that a diet containing ghee prevented T cell mediated

contact hypersensitivity in the skin.

Ghee’s benefits increase with its age. Aged ghee (up to a hundred

years) reduces all three doshas and dispels blockages in the srotas (channels).

It treats alcoholism, fever, and vaginal pain. Since it has a special ability

to clear the manovaha srota (mental channel), it used issued for mental

diseases, namely epilepsy and psychosis.

David Frawley is a prolific author

and Ayurveda expert. He lauds ghee for sexual vitality and for building

nerve and brain tissue. Long a favorite of yoga practitioners, it lubricates

the connective tissues and promotes flexibility, says Ayurvedic physician

Dr. Vasant Lad.

I remember a client of mine, an extreme pitta (“fire”) type, who,

at age fifty, the prime of high pitta midlife, was a walking ball of inflammation

from accumulated past athletic injuries. Every joint, every muscle was

sore. He undertook to use ghee to treat his condition. After working up

to one cup (!) of ghee per day, his inflammation was completely under control.

Much to my surprise, he gained not one pound, and his cholesterol went

down, not up. Same for triglycerides.