Edible Medicines of the Magi Episode 2! [The powerful benefits and how to make Ghee, a traditional medicine and staple of the Ayurvedic diet.]
For millennia, Ghee has been revered as a sacred medicine and a staple of the Indian culinary arts. Simply put, Ghee is clarified butter with the milk proteins removed. Ghee has a very high smoke point of 485°F, making it higher than that of coconut oil.
As the casein, the main protein in milk, is removed many people who are sensitive to dairy are able to easily digest this medicine. Ghee acts as a digestive aid stimulating and balancing the secretion of stomach acids to help with digestion and helping to maintain/repair the mucous lining of the stomach. It contains high amounts of Glycospingolipids, a special type of fatty acid which protects against gastrointestinal infections. It has a high concentration of the short chain fatty acid, Butyric Acid, which helps to control metabolism, inflammation and stress response. For people with leaky gut syndrome or gastroesophageal reflux disease, this medicine is highly recommended.
Ghee is high in antioxidants and aids in the absorption of vitamins and minerals. Ghee is rich in important trace minerals, including manganese, chromium, zinc, copper and selenium (a powerful antioxidant). It contains triglycerides, diglycerides, monoglycerides, phospholipids, beta carotene 600 IU, and Vitamin E which are known antioxidants. It is a superb source of fat soluble vitamins, such as Vitamin D, E, and K2, which are frequently missing from the modern diet. When Ghee is heated, unlike other oils, it does not lose its nutritive value.
Ghee is traditionally used as a carrier oil for other herbs to be used medicinally as well as for culinary purposes. With a rate of absorption of 96%, it has the highest digestibility co-efficient of any other animal or vegetable oil.
With the Fibromyalgia spectrum that I experience, digestive problems are a major concern. I am sensitive to dairy, and an infinitely expanding list of other foods. This medicine has helped me significantly in healing my digestive tract. I mentioned in my Probiotic Soup recipe, I have mentioned that I add Ghee to my soups. I also use it to cook certain foods that I know will absorb the oils very well. This is a very powerful medicine.
How to make Ghee
Ingredients
1 pound of organic, grass fed, unsalted butter
Let's begin
Start by chopping the sticks of butter into smaller blocks.
Melt the butter all the way down over a low and gentle heat.
After the butter has completely melted, it will go through several stages. It will begin create a layer of foam on top.
Then it will take over the whole surface. You can clear the solids out of the way to make sure you are not burning any of the milk solids on the bottom.
This foam layer will dissipate and begin to foam again. This is the final process that it goes through and you will notice the Ghee turning a brilliant golden color.
Moments later you will begin to notice the milk solids beginning to brown on the bottom of the pot.
From this point it is preference on how long you let it go, but make sure to never burn your ghee or it will have a rancid flavor and will not last as long. When you are finished there will be a layer of foam on the surface, the Ghee in the middle, and the browned milk solids at the bottom. Make sure to skim off the top layer of foam COMPLETELY. I allow the Ghee to sit off of heat for approximately fifteen minutes before I skim off the top layer, this allows everything to settle and thickens enough to easily remove it all.
Next you will want to get a glass container, plastic leaches harmful chemicals when in the presence of heat, and put down some cheese cloth. I fold my cloth across itself four times to ensure proper strainage.
Pour the Ghee and milk solids through the cheese cloth to strain out the solids.
If done properly, you should end up with a brilliantly golden jar of hot Ghee.
Allow this to set over night outside of the fridge. In the morning you will see the difference between golden Ghee and butter.
Ghee should be stored on the shelf at room temperature and is highly resistant to microbial infections. It has a shelf life of approximately a year, and is said to last over 100 years if prepared by the proper hands; some families have a batch of medicinal ghee that they pass down through the generations.
The key here is to ALWAYS use a CLEAN spoon when taking out Ghee for use.
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Great post @alchemage will read more about the benefits of ghee consuption!
I give thanks to you for your appreciation! Ghee is truly wonderful and easy to make. Its very expensive to purchase though.
Thank you so much for sharing. I have severe digestive issues and Fibromyalgia (among other things!) I tried making my own fermented foods and they worked well, but they wreaked havoc on my system. I know that store bought ghee would not be as beneficial and I look forward to trying your recipe. I am following you now and will look at your soup next. Thank you so much :) I hope I can heal my system with your recipes.
You are very welcome, I give thanks to you for your appreciation. Digestive issues are never easy and can be very hard not only physically but emotionally and psychologically as well. Using the fermented foods can definitely cause a lot of discomfort if not introduced properly, and some individuals are just too sensitive at the time to take them in. I'm not sure how you introduced them into your diet, but you should start with just the juices of the fermented food, and only a teaspoon a meal at first. The body can go through herxheimer reactions when the probiotics are introduced and begin to destabilize the pathogenic microbes. This is a natural process the body goes through during detox of any kind, but it can cause severe discomfort of all different forms.
Have you read anything on the GAPs diet? If not, I highly suggest looking into it. Perhaps I'll do a write up on it at some point. It is the diet that I have begun to base my current diet off of.
I hope that you are able to find some relief to some of your symptoms. I wish you the best upon your journey of healing. Feel free to contact me on here or steemit.chat anytime if you have any questions!
Thank you so much for the extra information. I realise I've been trying to add too much of the fermented foods into my diet. I will start more slowly. I have the GAPs book, but after one week on the diet I became very ill. I turned to juicing and eating very plain foods. I add turmeric, corriander (cilantro), black pepper, curry and other spices/herbs to help with inflammation. I find it difficult to get through each day as most foods make me ill. I have fat malabsorption also. I tried digestive enzymes, but find bi carb works better than anything else. Thank you again for your help.
Oh yes, the first week can become very difficult, up to the first month. A lot of the personal experiences I read said that the patients became very ill, having difficulty getting out of bed, pain levels heightened, food sensitivity heightened, brain fog heightened, severe diarrhea, and more. When I first began the diet, I definitely got more ill for about two weeks, but I was still able to maintain some semblance to thought and normalcy, though it was a terribly difficult two weeks. Definitely follow the diet very closely the way it talks about introducing probiotics and new foods. Go slow. Any irritation, hold off on adding that food for a couple more weeks. I used Betaine HCL tablets to get my stomach acid under control, and I do not have to take them any longer - that alone took a little over two months to settle out. Its a very rough ride reaching through the pain to healing where you may end up in more pain for a brief period, but it is all very much worth the efforts and tribulations. You are using great herbs to help with the pain, though I should point out that fibromyalgia is non-inflammatory so be trying to focus on nerve pain relief. A recent study shows that fibro patients have an excessive amount of nerve fibers around certain blood vessels in their palms and feet: http://www.intidyn.com/news-events/news/20-researchers-discover-a-rational-biological-source-of-pain-in-the-skin-of-patients-with-fibromyalgia-press-relase
As for foods: I had the same issue. Have you tried starting with the chicken stock and simple veggies like carrots? I started with carrots, leeks, bok choy, and green onions (and mainly stick to these as my main veggies) in my chicken stock and found that these were easily digested (once I got the betain HCL). My only issue is that due to lack of fiber, my stools remained inconsistent for some time. So where the GAPs diet talks of removing fiber completely, I need some in my personal diet or I cannot have proper bowel movements.
thanks for all the good info. I eat very basic, lots of veg, fruit and keep processed foods to a minimum. I've also tried the Gerson Therapy or parts of it as I only have a basic juicer. I will go back to trying fermented food juice again, but take smaller quantities. Thanks again :)
I should also mention that I was stationed in Korea for two years and fell in love with kimchi, and began fermenting my own kombucha before I knew much of probiotics at all. I was able to go all in with fermented foods from the get go as I had already been used to them, though from time to time they do cause quite a mess out the other end as they do some cleaning after I've fallen off from my diet briefly. If you know anything about the GAPs diet, its pretty brutal sticking to the whole diet every day when switching from a modern diet. I did the introduction diet and moved to the whole diet over the course of three-four months before I had a mishap while camping and had to eat foods I was not supposed to. They tore a hole through my system once again, but not nearly as horribly as before I started the diet. I saw MUCH improvement, and continue to every day. My symptoms got so bad at one point that I couldn't eat anything without it coming back up, to include water - warm or cold. Now I have a much more broad spectrum to be able to choose from, but still a large array of foods I must avoid or I end up in severe discomfort.
So after i make the Ghee do i just fry things with it now , like eggs or pork chops etc.!? And does it still have the flavor of butter!? Great post thanks a lot for shareing! 😉
I guess I should have mentioned that, huh?! Hahaha. Yes! Use it just as you would any other oil! :D It has the flavor of butter, but refined. A little bit goes a LONG way.
Thats awesome! Great to hear thanks! I will definately try it ! 👍😉
Thank you. I wasn't aware that fibromyalgia would relate to digestion. Have to try making this.
Fibro affects many different systems.
People fail to realize that the body is ONE integral system built of smaller systems working in unison. One part goes out of synch and they whole body feels the repercussions.
source: jaredblakedicroce.com