GHEE AND CHOLESTEROL

It is a wrong concept to think that ghee will increases cholesterol. On the contrary ghee has been shown to slightly reduce serum cholesterol in some studies on rats. The studies in Wistar rats have revealed one mechanism by which ghee reduces plasma LDL cholesterol. This action is mediated by an increased secretion of biliary lipids.

Most westerners never use ghee for their cusine, and they come to conclusion just looking at the fat content in ghee and say it will increase cholesterol and atherosclerosis. There are many Ayurvedic preparation which even helps one to reduce body weight, classical example is "varanadi ghrutham' which is a medicated ghee. The ghee has a negative effect only when it is rancid or over heated.

Moreover ghee has a wonderful capacity to carry medicines deep inside our tissues, the concept of 'snehapana' in ayurveda comes from that. Most of our herbal memory boosters like brahmi (bocopa monera) and shankupushpi (Convolvulus pluricaulis ) dissolve well in ghee and ghee has that ability to even enter brain passing the BBB (Blood-Brain-Barrier). Thats why old seers of India formulated Brhami Grutham (medicated ghee) for increasing the memory.

It is also proved that butter prepared in the conventional Indian way will separate only the high-density lipoproteins from the curd as the manual centrifuges are less powerful in separating all the fat contained in curd. This makes butter with minimal LDL cholesterol content (bad cholesterol). In many ayurvedic firms of Kerala ghee is prepared from conventional ways. On the contrary in mechanized centers, high-powered centrifuges are used which separates the tiniest amount of fat from curd and it contains lot of LDL cholesterol.

In cold climates ghee is even used by body to convert into energy.