GHEE : AN AYURVEDIC PERSPECTIVE

Ghee, the golden elixir of Ayurveda 

According to Ayurveda ghee increases the Ojas in ones body because Ghee is considered Sattvic.

According to Ayurveda, not only does ghee improve memory and strengthen the brain and nervous system but it’s thought to improve digestion, promote longevity, and even help to protect the body from various diseases.

The Vedas call ghee the ‘first and the most essential of all foods’.and ghee is a central element of the Vedic culture. 

Ojas means : it is the essential energy for the body and mind.
Sattvic Means: foods that do not have a negative impact on your mind or body.

The Sanskrit word for ghee is Ghritam. It comes from the root ghr, which means to shine. The ingestion of ghee is offering the finest of fuels into the fires of digestion (Agni). Ghee increases the sattvic qualities of life both in our self and in our environment (the Gods are the elemental rulers of the cosmos). It allows body and mind, both subtle and gross, to burn with a refined brilliance. Ghee increases Dhi (intelligence) refines the Buddhi (intellect) and improves the Smrti (memory). Ghee also builds the aura, makes all the organs soft, and increases Rasa (the internal juices of the body). Ghee builds the aura.

Ghee is held in very high esteem in Ayurveda.Although ghee kindles or increases the digestive fire (Agni), on which all nutrition depends, it does so without aggravating Pitta, the elemental functioning of fire within the body. In fact, ghee cools the body, essential in much of today’s world, where everything is overheating. Ghee balances all the Agnis of the body.

Because of its superb penetrating qualities ghee has the ability to carry a substance deep into all seven dhatus. Ghee is used as a yogavahi (carrier) for herbs and bhasmas (ashes) of gemstones, heavy metals and even certain toxins. Ghee also causes secretions and liquification in the dhatus that dissolve wastes, allowing the doshas to carry away ama. The ingestion of ghee is used in Panchakarma to first penetrate into and then dissolve ama in the dhatus, allowing the wastes to be then carried to the intestinal tract and expelled.

In Ayurveda, when a person has a chronic peptic ulcer or gastritis, ghee is used to heal the ulcer inside the intestinal tract. Ghee works wondrously on bedsores for the elderly or debilitated. 

Ghee has the quality of snigda (oiliness, unctuousness). It is smooth, lubricating and nurturing. Ghee makes the voice soft and melodious. Ghee is Guru (heavy). It mildly increases the qualities of Kapha and decreases Pitta and Vata, which are both light. In moderation, ghee balances all the doshas. Ghee has the quality of mrdu (softness). In Ayurvedic Panchakarma treatments, ghee is the oil used on the eyes. In Netra Basti, (eye-bath) a small dam is built around the eyes and filled with warm ghee. Then, the patient opens his eyes to its soothing softness. After that treatment, one sees the world though a soft diaphanous curtain of love and loveliness.

Ghee is nourishing and healing, steady and dependable and always supportive of life and living. Ghee brings the excess of blessing and goodness wherever and whenever it is appreciated and used. An ancient scripture summarizes it best: Ayurghritam (Ghee is life).

In the Ashtanga Samgraha, Vagbhata tells us the use of ghee for snehavidhi adyaya or oleation therapy “is best for those desirous of intelligence, memory, wisdom, good digestive capacity, for those suffering tumors, sinus ulcers, worms, diseases of kapha, medas and vata origin”

Sushruta makes an even stronger statement on the medicinal uses of ghee, “Ghrita is sweet, mild in action, soft, cold in potency (Virya), not increasing moisture in the tissues, lubricating, relieves upward movement in the alimentary tract, insanity, epilepsy, colic, fever, and distension of the abdomen, mitigates vata and pitta, kindles agni, increases memory, wisdom, intelligence, complexion, voice, beauty, softness of the body, vitality, vigor, strength, and span of life; is aphrodisiac, good for vision, increases kapha, wards off sins and inauspiciousness, destroys poisons and demons.”

Charaka clearly states the indications for ghee: “promotes memory, intelligence, agni, semen, ojas, Kapha and medas. It alleviates Vata, Pitta, poison, insanity, phthisis, inauspiciousness and fever. It is the best of all fats, is cold, madhura rasa, madhura vipaka, has 1000 potentialities and so, if used properly according to prescribed methods, exerts 1000 types of action.” Su27#231-232 [2, 3]. Charaka then goes into a greater discourse on each use listed for ghee throughout the text.

From an Ayurvedic perspective, ghee has the following qualities...

Rasa: Sweet
Virya: Cooling
Vipaka: Sweet
Qualities: Light, Subtle
Prapav: Kindles Agni
Actions on the doshas: Tridoshic - balances Vata, Pitta & Kapha (in moderation)..With a Vata-Pitta constitution prone to excess heat, dryness and also variable Agni, ghee is my perfect medicine.
Action on the mind: Sattvic.. It increases the quality of Sattva (peace/contentment) in the mind and also directly nourishes Ojas (our immune system) as well as Prana (our lifeforce) and all of our Dhatus (tissues).

"If the gastric fire is kindled by fuel in the form of ghee, then it cannot be suppressed, even by food that is too heavy" Charka..

Below are reasons why I reintroduced Ghee into my life. - High nutritional value. Vitamin A,D,E,K2 and Omega 6 and 9 essential fatty acids and numerous mineral.

-Promotes healthy digestive tract. -Anti-inflammatory- -Stimulates the Serotonin(Happy hormone) in your body
It will not break down easily into free radicals which are very harmful to the body. - Improves immune system moisturizer available. I use it for my daughter's dry skin and even for our lips. I often apply it under my eyes at night for better sleep. Bone and Joints health- Saturated fats are needed for calcium to effectively work with your bones. And according to ayurveda a combination of fresh ginger sauteed in ghee helps relieve symptoms of arthritis.-Promotes sleep - Ghee consumed with cardamom induces sleep. 

Ghee's unctuous quality increases the juices of the body (rasa), providing ease of movement and transport of nutrients and wastes.
Being a fatty base, ghee increases kapha within the body, and therefore increases the most refined byproduct of kapha—ojas (the essence of immunity and life). Because ghee does fuel the digestive fire, it facilitates the conversion of raw kapha into ojas.
Likewise, ghee can facilitate the movement of toxins (ama) and other wastes out of the body through the digestive tract.

Ayurveda recommends adding ghee to the mother’s diet throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding. It is good for healthy tissue building in your body and that of your baby. Ghee also lubricates the digestive tract to help ease dryness in stools and the straining that accompanies constipation, so be sure to take extra right after birth to make your first movement as smooth as possible!!

Ghee has been heavily utilized in Ayurveda for thousands of years for its health-promoting properties. It is administered alone and is used in conjunction with herbs to treat various disorders. 

“Tongue of the gods,” “navel of immortality.”
We will proclaim the name of ghee;
We will sustain it in this sacrifice by bowing low.
These waves of ghee flow like gazelles before the hunter…
Streams of ghee caress the burning wood.
Agni, the fire, loves them and is satisfied. – Rig Veda..

But more importantly ghee actually improves my digestion and makes me feel incredibly nourished, grounded, nurtured and content! It has brought sweetness and unctuousness into my life, making me more peaceful, a little softer, warmer and kind...Ghee increases the overall strength, luster and beauty of the sarira-the body. 

Reason enough to introduce it to your diet?