If you eat an alkaline diet you probably know that butter and milk products are firmly on the acidic side of the scale. But what about ghee – is ghee alkaline?
Read on to find out how ghee can give you that butter experience without tanking your pH.
Table of Contents
What is Ghee?
Even though ghee is a trendy food today, it is not new to the scene. It has been used in India for thousands of years. Ghee is a staple in Ayurvedic medicine, where it is believed to have anti-inflammatory properties, promote digestive health and calm the nervous system.
Ghee is also known as clarified butter.
Legend has it that Prajapati rubbed his hands together to produce the first ghee out of nothing, and then threw it on a fire to produce his children.
Like many ancient foods, ghee was developed out of necessity. Regular butter goes rancid when it is left out in a hot climate, and refrigeration is not available. However, once you remove the milk solids, you can safely store ghee at room temperature for months and months.
Different parts of the world have their own versions of ghee. Ethiopian cuisine uses nitter kebbeh, which is infused with garlic, ginger and spices. North African smen is fermented clarified butter. French cuisine has clarified butter or “beurre clarifié,” which is made with a similar process to ghee.
How does ghee compare to butter on the alkaline scale?
According to the Jaffe Acid-Alkaline Chart (developed by Russell Jaffe, MD, Ph.D., CCN), ghee is on the alkaline side of the scale. It is the only processed dairy product with an alkaline effect on the body (with the exception of breast milk).
Ghee likely owes its alkalinity to the fact that milk proteins and sugars have been removed. Protein always produces acid as it is metabolized in your body. Sugars are not acidic themselves, but tend to feed gut bacteria which turn around and produce acid.
The process of simmering butter separates the milk solids which contain the lactose (milk sugar) and casein (milk protein), and leaves you with a soft and spreadable oil.
And here’s some other good things about cooking with ghee…
You can cook at a higher temperature with ghee.
Because the milk solids are removed, ghee has a high smoking point. You can heat it up to a higher temperature before the fatty acids begin to break down and release toxic compounds.
This makes it a good choice for sautéing or roasting foods while preserving their nutritional value. The smoking point of ghee is 482° F. For comparison, butter breaks down when you heat it to 250° F.
Ghee has a longer shelf life than butter.
Butter goes rancid if you let it sit out for a few days, but you can safely leave ghee out on the counter for several months. If you want to keep it longer, it can be refrigerated for at least a year.
In the fridge ghee will lose its spreadable properties and solidify just like butter. However you can still melt it for cooking or leave a smaller amount out on the counter to stay spreadable.
It is very handy to have a little bowl of ghee next to your stove whenever you need it for cooking.
What’s healthy about ghee, besides being alkaline?
Ghee and butter both contain butyrate, a short chain fatty acid that is used as fuel for the cells lining the large intestine. Granted, eating ghee isn’t the best way to get all the butyrate that you need. Find out the best ways to get short chain fatty acids.
Ghee supplies fat soluble vitamins A, E and K, packaged right up in the fat that they need in order to be absorbed.
Another beneficial fatty acid in ghee is called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). Research shows that CLA changes the microbiome in ways that improve metabolism for the host (that’s you!).
CLA is being researched for its role in preventing chronic conditions such as cancer, obesity and atherosclerosis (1).
You can even take it up a notch and infuse ghee with medicinal herbs and spices like turmeric, garlic and ginger. This not only adds flavor, it instantly raises the nutritional and healing properties of the ghee.
How to Make Your Own Ghee
What you need:
- one pound of organic, grass-fed butter
- glass or ceramic container for storage
The Steps:
- Melt butter in a heavy, medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking as butter comes to a simmer. You will begin to hear a lot of crackling sounds as the butter cooks. Leave it to cook until the sounds subside. Periodically scoop the foam off the top of the butter as it cooks.
- When most of the crackling and foaming has subsided, turn heat to low. Continue to cook on very low heat until ghee is a deep golden color. Turn off heat and let mixture sit and cool for 15 minutes.
- Use a fine-mesh sieve and / or cheesecloth to strain the ghee into a glass or ceramic container you will use for storage.
You can store ghee for a few months without refrigeration, as long as you have a cool, dark place to keep it. You can store it for even longer in the fridge.
Final Thoughts
Ghee has been around for thousands of years, and is a practical alternative to butter. Because ghee no longer has the milk protein and sugar, it falls on the alkaline side of the food pH scale.
There are many benefits to using ghee. Ghee is easier to digest than butter. It withstands higher cooking temperatures, and has a longer shelf life. It provides butyrate and conjugated linoleic acid, which are beneficial for your gut.
You can buy ghee already made, but it’s super easy to do in your own kitchen. Add turmeric, ginger, garlic, or any herb or spice of your choice!
This benefit of turmeric is not only associated with the antioxidant activity of curcumin but is also due to its ability to increase the functioning of other antioxidants as well. It is said that almost 90% of diseases occur due to oxidative stress, and this food, we are talking about, can help to manage this condition very well.
Interesting, chef, about increasing the functioning of other antioxidants! I’d love to hear more about that. Agree about oxidative stress.