Do you think that fat in food is harmful?

The view spread by conventional medicine and the food industry is that fat in food is unhealthy. Fat makes you fat and clogs the blood vessels - that is the common opinion.

 

In Ayurveda, fats are considered important and high-quality foods. One example is ghee, pure butter fat, also called the "liquid gold of Ayurveda".

Interestingly, in Ayurveda, ghee is considered a food, a food supplement and a medicine at the same time. This is a completely unthinkable situation in the eyes of the European regulations for food and medicine.

From the perspective of the EU authorities, a substance can either be a food or a medicine. One excludes the other. Ghee, however, falls into one category or the other, depending on how it is used and the dosage.

Ghee - the best of all fats

In the classical texts, ghee is called the best of all fats. It is easily digestible, digestible and improves the taste and nutritional value of all food. Food cooked with ghee improves the action of the digestive fire Agni and can therefore be better assimilated.

Ghee in the kitchen

The use of clarified butter in the kitchen has a long tradition in our region. Many people still have childhood memories of dishes that were prepared with clarified butter and are therefore particularly tasty. Since the 1960s, this unique-tasting fat has been replaced by inferior margarine and vegetable fats. As a result, many young people no longer know the taste of ghee.

Ghee has a high flash point and therefore does not oxidise when heated. This is why butterfat, when heated, does not become a pro-inflammatory substance that causes harm to the body like other fats.

Ghee nourishes healthy intestinal flora

One reason why butterfat/ghee is so healthy is its high content of butyrate (butyric acid). This fatty substance is the most important nutrient for healthy intestinal flora. The leading germs of the intestine, lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, need butyrate to multiply and fulfil their important tasks for digestion and the immune system.

So ghee not only makes food taste good, but also helps to ensure that every meal prepared with ghee has a health-promoting effect.

Ghee as a food supplement

The classical texts of Ayurvedic medicine highlight the following effects of ghee as follows:

•  Ghee strengthens the memory, reproductive tissues, digestive power and intellect.
• Ghee is cooling, anti-inflammatory and restorative.

For this reason, ghee is used as a pure substance or mixed with medicinal plants as a food supplement.

So when underweight, fatigue, exhaustion and disturbances of the bio-rhythms occur, many Ayurvedic experts recommend adding ghee to the finished meal. The easiest way to do this is to add 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of ghee to the portion on the plate at the table.

There are a number of Ayurvedic supplements that use ghee as a base substance and solvent for medicinal herbs. Some of these are also available as Maharishi Ayurveda finished products. As ghee has a pitta-balancing effect, these finished products are mainly used for pitta diseases. These remedies include MA421, in which ghee is enriched with the medicinal plant brahmi, as a classic "brain tonic", further MA367 as a remedy for skin and nerves, and MA550, which can be used especially for chronic eye diseases.

Ghee as medicine

In Pancha Karma therapy, ghee is used in relatively high doses to prepare for detoxification. The classical texts speak of "internal oiling", which serves to dissolve fat-soluble toxins from the tissues and intercellular spaces. The ama (undigested substances deposited in the body) thus dissolved can then be removed from the body by the traditional methods of elimination.

The classical texts say: "Ghee prolongs life and promotes the formation of ojas (vitalising bodily fluids). " Ojas is the term used to describe the bodily fluid that is completely free of ama and maintains well-being, health and immunity. It surrounds and nourishes all body cells and tissues.  

Summary

Ghee, the "liquid gold" of Ayurveda, can be used in many ways. In the kitchen, it is the best fat for cooking, baking and frying. As a food supplement, it has a nourishing effect and balances pitta disturbances. In panchakarma therapy, ghee is used as a medicine to rid the body of waste products and form ojas.

A valuable component of ghee is butyrate (butyric acid). This oleic acid is the most important nutrient for healthy intestinal flora, which maintains well-being and immunity. 

"Netra Tarpana", eye bath with ghee

as part of a Pancha Karma cure