Benefits of Ghee vs Butter

Healthy Food Nutrition
#1

I thought that ghee is better then the butter… but this article says that it is not…:confused:

Friendly copied from indiadivine.org :

Someone wrote me and sent this information from Dr. Andrew Weil. Dr. Weil is probably the most respected “alternative” medicine MD in the US. I would say that Deepak Chopra is #2. Anyway, Dr. Weil is a Harvard educated MD and his opinions influence many people. I personally think he is middle of the road for natural medicine and disagree with many of his opinions including this following article. I would think that all the increased health problems cannot be attributed to ghee. I would think it is more from increased Westerization, a lot of fried foods, lots of salt and lots of sugar.

Are there any chemical breakdowns of ghee vs. butter with the amounts of cholesterol, saturated fats and other compounds? I was of the assumption that most of the fats and cholesterol and virtually all of the toxins are removed when making ghee. Would someone please tell me where I can get this information?

Thank you
GB

April 23, 2004
A Better Butter?
Provided by: DrWeil.com

Q: How safe is ghee, which is mainly used in Indian cooking? In
ayurveda, ghee is often recommended and is used in ayurvedic medicines. But
ghee is saturated fat so how can it be good? – Indu Sadasiva

A: Ghee is clarified unsalted butter made by heating butter until the
curds sink to the bottom and brown. The foam is skimmed off, and then
the pure butterfat is poured off, leaving the milk solids behind. When it
cools and solidifies, this pure fat is ghee.

You’re correct in saying that ghee is saturated fat. In the body it
will act the same as regular butter in stimulating cholesterol formation.
Ayurvedic medicine practitioners maintain that the harmful elements of
butter are removed in the preparation of ghee, but they’re wrong about
that. Likewise, Indians have high rates of atherosclerosis and coronary
heart disease.

Ghee is convenient because it can be kept unrefrigerated, but I do not
consider it a healthy fat and don’t recommend it. In fact, studies in
south Asia and England have implicated ghee in rising rates of coronary
heart disease among Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis. A study
published in the July 24, 1999, issue of the British Medical Journal found
that South Asians living in England have more coronary heart disease
than Europeans despite apparently fewer risk factors. Of course, the use
of ghee in cooking isn’t solely responsible for increased rates of
heart disease among south Asians in England and their home countries, but
it clearly is a factor that researchers have singled out.

If you like the flavor of ghee, I suggest using a healthier oil in food
preparation and then adding a little ghee for flavor. And of course, if
you wish, use ghee freely on the skin for ayurvedic medicinal purposes.

Andrew Weil, MD
Last Reviewed: April 2004

See also:
http://www.curryhouse.co.uk/scene/ghee_pot.html
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/m...1301600300.htm
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...ow/1518458.cms

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...g=f1000,f1000m

Note conclusion referenced below in URL above:

"Risk factors for non-fatal myocardial infarction in young South Asian
adults.

Ismail J, Jafar TH, Jafary FH, White F, Faruqui AM, Chaturvedi N.

Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Department of Community Health Sciences,
Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the risk factors for premature myocardial
infarction among young South Asians. DESIGN AND SETTING: Case-control study
in a hospital admitting unselected patients with non-fatal acute
myocardial infarction. METHODS AND SUBJECTS: Risk factor assessment was done
in 193 subjects aged 15-45 years with a first acute myocardial infarct,
and in 193 age, sex, and neighbourhood matched population based
controls. RESULTS: The mean (SD) age of the subjects was 39 (4.9) years and
326 (84.5%) were male. Current smoking (odds ratio (OR) 3.82, 95%
confidence interval (CI) 1.47 to 9.94), use of ghee (hydrogenated vegetable
oil) in cooking (OR 3.91, 95% CI 1.52 to 10.03), raised fasting blood
glucose (OR 3.32, 95% CI 1.21 to 8.62), raised serum cholesterol (OR 1.67,
95% CI 1.14 to 2.45 for each 1.0 mmol/l increase), low income (OR 5.05,
95% CI 1.71 to 14.96), paternal history of cardiovascular disease (OR
4.84, 95% CI 1.42 to 16.53), and parental consanguinity (OR 3.80, 95% CI
1.13 to 1.75) were all independent risk factors for acute myocardial
infarction in young adults. Formal education versus no education had an
independently protective effect on acute myocardial infarction (OR 0.04,
95% CI 0.01 to 0.35). CONCLUSIONS: Tobacco use, ghee intake, raised
fasting glucose, high cholesterol, paternal history of cardiovascular
disease, low income, and low level of education are associated with
premature acute myocardial infarction in South Asians. The association of
parental consanguinity with acute myocardial infarction is reported for the
first time and deserves further study.

#2

This MD believes that saturated fat is bad for you. Ayurveda has always recognised that cooking with oil is not as good for your health as cooking with ghee. Modern research also establishes that vegetable oils turn into transfat at high degrees. Ghee is a great fat to cook in. Ayurveda says oils are for massage and ghee is for cooking.

#3

Hi,
There are some harmful elements present in the Ghee that are removed during preparation of ghee that’s why Ghee is better than butter and Ghee has other health benefits also as compared to butter which is also mentioned in ayurveda. If you consume pure Ghee and in limited way than it would work as a Healhty Weight loss Diet.
Swedishdiet

#4

thank you for replies…
In fact our bodies need saturated fat, but in small amounts… i also know from the books that any fat or oil heated twice is cancerogenic… and ghee is the butter that is heated ones…so heated ghee should be cancerogenic? :?

#5

[QUOTE=CityMonk;64818]thank you for replies…
In fact our bodies need saturated fat, but in small amounts… i also know from the books that any fat or oil heated twice is cancerogenic… and ghee is the butter that is heated ones…so heated ghee should be cancerogenic? :?[/QUOTE]

No, it doesn’t apply to saturated fats.

#6

My doctor suggest me to drink hot water or milk added with 1 tbs ghee to gain my body weight…And i really found good effect on my body…It also helps to glowing the skin.

#7

Natural things are always better than the unnatural things.
That is why butter is better than ghee.

#8

as par my knowledge ghee is always better that butter.
scientist claim that butter is very harmful to the heart.

Smith ALan

#9

I think anything in excess is harmful.
Anyway, butter, ghee or oil, you’d better take them raw.

#10

They’re both bad stuff. Spread some avocado on your bread instead and cook with coconut oil. Coconut oil doesn’t lose it’s composition when it is reheated plus, in moderation, it is full of health benefits and fights bacterial, viral and fungal infections.

#11

[QUOTE=panoramix;70305]I think anything in excess is harmful.
Anyway, butter, ghee or oil, you’d better take them raw.[/QUOTE]

well…thats is the prob;em posted in the original post… ghee can not be raw per say…but is considered healthier than butter

#12

[QUOTE=Aviatrix79;70323]They’re both bad stuff. Spread some avocado on your bread instead and cook with coconut oil. Coconut oil doesn’t lose it’s composition when it is reheated plus, in moderation, it is full of health benefits and fights bacterial, viral and fungal infections.[/QUOTE]

I was experimenting with ghee since dairy causes me inflammation but then I started using coconut oil, liked it so much I gave up the experiment with ghee.

#13

i thought ghee was oil, never knew is was a butter compound! thank you for sharing that!

#14

my wise man made a point today…that gee is not a burned fat, but just a slightly warmed…which negates all the claims about its’ carcinogenicity in the original post article!

#15

Hello guys,
Consuming large quantities of ghee is obviously unhealthy.I think butter is better than ghee.

#16

[QUOTE=Nehemiah;71276]Hello guys,
Consuming large quantities of ghee is obviously unhealthy.I think butter is better than ghee.[/QUOTE]

not sure about it…well in raw -yes - butter is “more better”, but i think that ghee is better for cooking, since butter does burn on the skillet and ghee does not

#17

Wonderful information for me. Thank you so much for posting these.

#18

I was just coming to terms with the idea that animal fats are NOT bad cholesterol…

I have to reverse that, now? Bummer!

#19

Both Ghee and Butter are about 80% fat by calorie. This alone means they’re really not a great addition to your diet, unless you are using very small amounts. Ghee is about 12% more saturated than butter. Most medical research shows that a diet rich in saturated fat is going to lead to atherosclerosis and other heart issues.

Nevertheless, if you insist on eating milk fat, its better to eat ghee. Here’s why:

  1. Ghee is more saturated than butter, which means it is more stable when cooked at high temperatures. So cooking with ghee is better than cooking with oil, and much better than cooking with butter. If you want to fry your food, use ghee every time. It has a smoke point of about 450 degrees.

  2. The clarification process removes the lactose and casein from the butter, making it palatable for people with dairy allergies.

I wrote a lot more about ghee in an article on my website, FruitnYoga. I don’t have 15 posts yet on this site so I can’t link you, but I’d like to share the information I compiled
in the article and I’m way too lazy to type it all out here. If you’d like to read more about ghee, go to www dot FruitnYoga dot com and then click Ayurveda in the right panel. Scroll down until you see an article on ghee. But the gist of it is that yes, ghee is better for you than butter, but probably not a necessary or even good addition to your diet.