An Interview about GHEE with Dr. Suhas 12/7/09

Peter is an Ayurvedic practitioner. In November of 2009, he accompanied one of his patients to see Dr Suhas at his clinic in Aptos, Ca. He consented to give us an interview about ghee and we later called him over the phone. Here is that interview:

Did you make ghee when you grew up in India?

When I grew up, it was in an old house (Dr Suhas grew up in South India) . As everyone who could afford to, we had a few cows for daily milk/cream/ghee. We would milk the cows daily and keep the milk in earthen pots. We also had an old fashioned stove that we fed with wood for burning. After the fire went down in the evening, we took the heated embers from the fire and put them in a special closet in the house that was sealed. There we also put the milk in earthenware pots. In the morning, there was thick cream on top and every 2-3 days we made ghee. When we made ghee you could smell it all over our neighborhood and children came from all over.

The cream was taken off and cultured with yogurt, making a creamy yogurt. To make the ghee the butter was hung in cloth to let more of the moisture drain out. When making ghee, it is very important to not bring up the heat in the pots too high or too fast. In my family, we used to boil water in the pots, then put in the butter to melt and then begin to cook the butter.

Sometimes a little water was put in to make it easier to churn as it was so thick. Then, we would churn the cream and make butter. The butter was then boiled to make ghee. We kept our ghee in silver pots as silver is the bet for storing ghee. Silver is closely linked to the moon and soma. The second best container for storing ghee is gold.

What was left over after the churning of the cream (after the butter was taken out) was buttermilk. The buttermilk was always given to friends and visitors as we lived in a very hot climate and the buttermilk was cooling and nourishing. Sometimes we put in a bit of jaggery (natural sugar) or salt. It was light and a perfect electrolyte solution. In Ayurveda it was traditional to put a person with celiac disease on an all buttermilk diet throughout the day. The freshly churned ‘yogurt cream’ with the butter floating on the top is called Navaneeta. It was what Lord Krishna was attracted to and known for tasting and stealing.

We used ghee for lamps for the Gods. We did not use it for ordinary light as it was too expensive. We had a ghee lamp burning 24 hours a day. The light from a ghee lamp is very uniform, soothing and calming. One of the best ways to test the quality of ghee is to use it in a lamp. The light should be steady and not flicker. There should be no noise in the burning and very little blue flame. The color should be soft yellow.

What is the relationship of Ghee to the Sun?

Ghee enhances the quality of the sun in that ghee is balancing- cooling and soothing. Consider the jatharagni (the primary fire of digestion in the body). It is hot and along with the liver it converts food into ahara, blood, plasma, muscle, fat, bone, bone marrow, Shukra ojas and soma. Prana regulates the jatharagni and prana in turn is regulated by ojas. Ghee is the supreme ojas builder and this regulates prana and tejas which in turn regulate ojas. Without ghee, things do not burn completely. The metabolic processes are lacking in their ability to transform food. Ghee allows the solar energy of the sun to burn without overheating the body. In this way, ghee is unique amongst fuels and fats- Ghee increases the agni or fires but is cooling as well

Ghee is the essence of soma or the moon. It comes from the milk of cows and is the very essence of that milk. That milk has passed through the 4 stomachs of the cow and is predigested. Then it is distilled again to create ghee. Ghee is one of the most essential foods.

Ghee has 1000 different viryas or potencies or actions. In the Agnnihotra or Fire sacrifice that is at the heart of everyday Vedic ceremony, it is ghee that is offered into the sacred fire. Ghee is the most important offering.

Without the right kind of fat the nervous system, endocrine system and immune system, they all cannot function well. Fat is what keeps us young. The qualities of aging are dry, hard, rough. Irregular. Fat is the very opposite of these qualities and ghee is the very best of fats. The whole nervous system is bathed in a myelin sheath and all these ‘fluids’ contain fat. We absolutely need fat in our diet.

If someone comes to me with high cholesterol I am not worried. But, if someone comes to me with low cholesterol, then I am very concerned. The body produces hormones from fat. The precursor for any hormone in the body is cholesterol. Cholesterol is directly correlated with ojas.

Ghee is the only fat that is pitta (the fire element/dosha) pacifying. Regular ghee is the best of foods for pacifying pitta. Amla ghee (bitter ghee) is the best of medicines for pacifying pitta.

The main cause of heart disease in this country is not cholesterol, it is inflammation. Ghee is the right kind of fat that improves and prevents artery clogging and hardening of arteries. Ghee is the supreme fat. Ghee is the only fat that stokes the fire of digestions and cools the body at the same time. Ghee is the precursor to Shukra which is the precursor to ojas.

Consuming ghee is said, in India, to be capable of attracting Lakshmi or wealth. Ghee dispels alakshmi and brings Lakshmi through helping with right decision, right actions, clear mind.

Unless one is free of Ama (toxicity/improperly digested food waste) it is not good to eat ghee. It is best to eat ghee mixed with foods that are warmed and freshly prepared. It is commonly eaten on top of food (Aharshudhi)

Ghee was used for massages. It is a ‘royal’ massage oil.

Ghee is considered to be the very best gift that can be given. It is considered to be a gift that offers health and wealth together. It was the gift my family took with them whenever we visited relatives.

Dr. Suhas G.Kshirsagar BAMS, MD(Ayurveda,India)
Head of US Operations, Kerala Ayurveda Academy & Clinics
California Center for Integrative Medicine
9099 Soquel Drive, Cottage 7 & 9
Aptos, CA 95003
831-662-2997 phone

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