Diwali holidays translate as a time of fun-filled celebrations, which means overeating, and searching for crunchy, fried snacks in kitchen jars all day long. Deep fried snacks lead to increased cholesterol levels, risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity and other harmful diseases.
Since ancient times, ghee, or clarified butter, has been an integral part of Indian cooking. Apart from its deep cultural significance, it comes with various health benefits. Ghee is suitable for cooking at high temperatures as it has a higher smoke point than other cooking oils.
This shows that less toxic substances are released when cooking than with oil. Higher smoking point, increased taste, better digestion and healthy gut lining are some of the plus points of consuming snacks made in ghee.
How much ghee is good?
Ghee is free from trans fats and contains vitamins A, D, E and K in addition to important fatty acids. Butyrate, a fatty acid linked to better digestion and reducing inflammation, is another abundant ingredient in ghee. In contrast, many oils—especially refined oils—that are used to cook foods are stripped of their nutrients.
“Ghee is a superfood and helps heal your gut lining. Being a healthy fat, we can always use it sparingly with our breakfast, but remember that only your gut is happy to tolerate ghee,” cautions nutritionist and lifestyle teacher Karishma Chawla. “Biological individuality factors come into play where one person’s food may be another’s poison. For some people ghee can cure them when their intestine is well aligned and for some when their intestine is in a weak condition any food can act like a foreign body and cause destruction Is. She says, to be safe we can use 3-4 teaspoons of ghee or any other fat a day.
A better alternative to fried snacks
Using ghee also improves the taste of your food. Ravin Saluja, Director, Nova Dairy Products, Sterling Agro Industries Ltd, believes, “When consumed in moderation, the abundant amount of beneficial fats present in ghee can also help reduce cholesterol and promote heart health . You can stay away from processed oils, which are often linked to health problems like obesity and heart disease, by choosing ghee for your breakfast.”
Chawla says, “Ghee can be a wonderful alternative to refined oils but it is better to avoid frying food in too much oil. We can always use a combination of oils like coconut oil or ghee to base it and being a good fat, and providing adequate amount of health benefits, it can be used just to fry the snacks. .
Benefits for digestion
“Unlike oils that can be uncomfortable for the stomach, ghee contains butyric acid, which is great for gut health. Due to its ability to improve digestion and maintain the health of the stomach lining cells, ghee-fried food has a good effect on your digestive system. You don’t need to use a lot of ghee to give your food a rich flavour,” explains Saluja. By comparison, cooking oil-fried foods typically requires more oil to achieve the same level of crispiness, resulting in an excess of calories. If you want to make this festive season healthy and tasty, turn to ghee!
How to include ghee in your regular breakfast plan
- Fry dishes like samosas, pakodas, chakli.
- French fries will taste better.
- – Drizzle ghee over baked nibbles
- roast vegetables
- Roasted nuts in ghee, popcorn with ghee
