6 Health Benefits Of Adding Desi Ghee To Your Diet
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Ghee is considered to be one of the most treasured foods in Ayurveda as it has incredible healing properties. Be it our dals, khichdis, or halwas; ghee is one ingredient which is a staple in all these dishes, and it makes them so flavorful that we can’t get bored of them ever. Oh, and how can we forget the ghee tadka that goes into most of the Indian dishes?
But most of us these days have already made the blunder of swapping our desi ghee with the various refined oils, which promise us the best of health.
What makes ghee lovable is its aroma, which is very pleasantly intoxicating. Most of us love ghee but we steer away from it thinking it’s a type of fat that can pose a lot of health problems. But, let us tell you, if ghee, and by ghee, we mean “pure ghee”, is consumed in controlled portions, it can provide innumerable health benefits to its consumer.
Here are a few health benefits of ghee that we’ve penned down which go beyond its aroma and shine. Let’s have a look at them.
1. It Helps Keep Our Body Warm
Have you observed how during winters your mother or grandmother starts preparing sweets that are loaded with ghee? We’re talking about moong dal ka halwa, gajar ka halwa, panjeeri, and pinni. They prepare these because consuming foods which have a good quantity of ghee can actually help keep our bodies warm from within during winters and this is why it is recommended by many nutritionists too (1).
2. It Solves The Problem Of The Clogged Nose
There’s no sensation that’s as annoying as a clogged nose. With a clogged nose, you face difficulties while breathing, your taste buds take a hit, you start feeling exhausted at the chance of slightest exertion and experience serious headaches too.
However, there is a very unique remedy that Ayurveda prescribes to treat a clogged nose. It’s a nasal drop remedy called Nyasa treatment (2). This treatment involves putting a few drops of warm cow ghee (pure) inside the nostrils; this is to be done first thing in the morning. This treatment provides quick relief as the ghee travels through the nostrils all the way down to the throat and soothes the infection. Just make sure that the ghee you’re using is pure and it is lukewarm.
3. It Is A Good Source Of Fat
If you’re on a weight loss spree, you would have definitely received so many pro tips that you wouldn’t have been able to even remember them correctly. One of the most common tips among many is the one which asks you to eliminate fats from your diet. This is wrong, because fats, carbs, and proteins are the essential macronutrients that help us sustain our body the healthy way. Therefore, to remove any food from your diet is wrong; you need to make better choices — this is the key to weight loss.
Learn to avoid unhealthy fats which are hidden in the junk and processed foods. Instead, pick healthy fat alternatives like ghee, avocados, etc. Ghee is a healthy source of fat. Its saturated fats are easily digestible and also helps boost our metabolism (3).
4. It Is Good For Intestinal Health
Among the other fats, ghee is known to be the richest source of butyric acid making it the perfect option for an ideal indulgence as it helps our intestine do their work better (4). This is because the colon cells use butyric acid as their source of energy.
5. Apply Ghee Over Your Rotis To Decrease Their Glycemic Index
In India, we’ve seen that it is the norm in most of the households to apply ghee on bread such as rotis and paranthas. While we’ve always been under the notion that our mothers do this to feed us some love (or some more fat), apparently it has a deeper truth to it. Applying ghee over your wheat bread actually helps to decrease their glycemic index making them easily digestible (5). Doing so helps one combat health issues like obesity and diabetes also.
6. It’s Great For Skin
Since times immemorial, ghee has been a part of many beauty care regimes. The fatty acids of ghee do the work of a nourishing agent and pump some new life into dull skin (6). The shuddh (pure) desi ghee is said to leave you with softer, supple skin. It hydrates our skin cells from within which makes them glow. Want to know how you can get soft supple skin from ghee? By using it in a face-pack like this:
Mix two tablespoons of besan (chickpea flour) and ghee along with a quarter teaspoon of turmeric. Mix them well to form a lump-free paste. Apply this mixture on your neck and face. Leave it on for 20 minutes and then rinse. This will leave with you glowing, supple skin.
So now you know that your favorite ghee can do wonders to your health, right? So go grab that can of ghee right away. Do you know of any other health benefits that ghee provides? Let us know in the comment section below.
