6 Reasons to Get More Ghee in Your Life
TO BE FAIR, there is no shortage of delicious oils with which to cook. From Coconut Oil to Duck Fat to Lard, the choices are all yummy, to say the least.
Why, then, would you ever venture out, particularly to a fat like Ghee, that many people have never cooked with in their lives?
Well, I’ve got 6 excellent reasons. First, though, just a bit about Ghee:
What the Heck is Ghee?
Ghee is nothing more than a class of clarified butter.
Clarified butter is made by heating butter to the point that the milk solids (mostly the proteins) and the water separate from the fats (which become the clarified butter).
Ghee is made around the world, but it’s particularly popular in south Asia (India and Pakistan most notably). Ask any Indian or Pakistani about ghee, and you’ll get an immediate nod of recognition.
With that in mind, here are 6 reasons to get more ghee in your life
1. Shelf-Stable: Like coconut oil, ghee is solid at room temperature and has a very long shelf-life. It doesn’t need to be refrigerated and will last for almost as long as you need it to.
2. Healthy Fats: About 60% of ghee is saturated fat, which means it’s very resistant to oxidation. (Around here, we aim for saturated fat more than any other type, since oxidation is the real threat to our health.) Perhaps more importantly, though, ghee is relatively high in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which likely aids in preventing heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. (The research is not 100% conclusive, but it’s pretty clear that CLA has at least some positive benefits.)
3. High Smoke Point: Unlike butter, which generally has a smoke point around 350°F, ghee’s smoke point is usually 485°F. Want to fry something? Go for ghee next time!
4. Lots of Vitamin K2: The amount of K2 in ghee varies a lot depending on the quality of the milk and butter you start with. Still, unless you’re eating a lot of organ meats and natto, there aren’t tons of good K2 sources. In case you’re not familiar with Vitamin K2, here’s an article by Stephan Guyenet and one by Chris Kresser about just how important K2 is for our health.
5. No Milk Proteins: Milk proteins (like Casein) aren’t a problem for everyone, but if you’ve got a leaky gut, then it’s quite possible that dairy is causing you problems. Because the process of making ghee separates out the milk proteins, there’s little to no cause for concern with ghee.
6. Delicious: If you haven’t tried cooking in ghee, you really don’t know what you’re missing. Both nutty and buttery at the same time, good ghee is insanely delicious.
Where To Purchase Ghee
You can buy Indian Pure Foods ghee on Amazon here or you can try one of Tava Life’s flavored ghee, which you can buy from Thrive Market here.
Images: Copyright © Larry Jacobsen cc, © Marek from Fotolia