Butter vs. Ghee

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/mp/2004/05/13/stories/2004051301600300.htm

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1518458.cms

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=14966040&dopt=Abstract&holding=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.

This is the best I could find. http://www.recipezaar.com

The normal nutritional sources like calorieking and all those that I looked

at tried to just count it as oil. Probably from a macronutrient standpoint,

oil is correct. If Indian people have been eating ghee for millenia and are

only now having an epidemic of heart disease, then I would look for

something newer as a source. I think many MD's here tend to be too cautious

with alternative medicine for fear of being ridiculed by their peers. They

have so much invested in being an MD that they don't want to jeopardize

that. The very old ones seem to have no such inhibitions and are better and

more open to things that work. This is slowly changing.

I think that I would prefer butter or ghee over processed fats that I don't

know where they came from. Trans fats and fake fats are so bad and have been

proven to be bad and they taste bad. If taste is a big part of ayurveda, I

don't think any artificial substance that tastes rancid can possibly be good

in that context either.

Darla

My cardiologist's office told me to eat SmartBeat which is some kind of

partly fake butter with no trans fats and very little sat fat. It tastes

okay and the ingredients don't look too freaky. But I still think butter is

probably okay in moderation.

Darla

On 6/1/06, Candace <cox-ct (AT) sbcglobal (DOT) net> wrote:

>

> The lowering your cholesterol classes offered by doctors at Kaiser

> Permenente medical

> group now recommend eating butter over ANY kind of margarine. They feel

> that the fat in

> butter is less harmful for you than the fat in most margarines. They

> still recommend

> lowering your saturated fats intake, but if you're going to choose a

> spread, they say chose

> one that's not hydrogenated and has no trans fats as they feel that trans

> fats are far worse

> in that they bring up your LDL cholesterol.